System and method for determining recipient of spoken command in a control system

ABSTRACT

Disclosed is an apparatus and method for determining which controllable device an audible command is directed towards, the method comprising: receiving at each of two or more controlling devices the audible command signal, the audible command being directed to control at least one of two or more controllable devices controlled by a respective one of the two or more controlling devices; digitizing each of the received audible command signals; attaching a unique identifier to each digitized audible command so as to uniquely correlate it to a respective controlling device; determining a magnitude of each of the digitized audible command; determining a digitized audible command with the greatest magnitude, and further determining to which controlling device the audible command is directed to on the basis of the unique identifier associated with the digitized audible command with the greatest magnitude; performing speech recognition on the digitized audible command with the greatest magnitude; and forwarding a command to the controlling device corresponding to the digitized audible command with the greatest magnitude, the command corresponding to the audible command that can be implemented on the controllable device controlled by the controlling device.

PRIORITY INFORMATION

The present application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. § 120 as aContinuation Application to U.S. Non-provisional patent application Ser.No. 15/261,296 (Attorney Docket No. CP00328-01) filed 9 Sep. 2016, andas a Continuation Application to U.S. Non-provisional patent applicationSer. No. 15/376,846 (Attorney Docket No. CP00328-02) filed 13 Dec. 2016(and which issued on 8 Nov. 2018, as U.S. Pat. No. 10,121,473), and bothof which claim priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119(e) to U.S. ProvisionalPatent Application No. 62/216,971 (Attorney Docket No. CP00328-00),filed 10 Sep. 2015. In addition, the present Application further claimspriority under 35 U.S.C. § 120 as a Continuation-in-Part Application toU.S. Non-provisional patent application Ser. No. 14/850,904 (AttorneyDocket No. CP00296-01), filed 10 Sep. 2015, which claims priority under35 U.S.C. § 119(e) to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/048,722(Attorney Docket No. CP00296-00), filed 10 Sep. 2014, the entirecontents of all of which are expressly incorporated herein by reference.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

Related subject matter is disclosed in Applicants' co-pending U.S.Non-provisional patent application Ser. No. 15/261,296 (Attorney DocketNo. CP00328-01), and which was filed on 9 Sep. 2016. Related subjectmatter is also disclosed in Applicants' issued U.S. Pat. No. 10,121,473,which was filed on 13 Dec. 2016, and received U.S. Non-provisionalpatent application Ser. No. 15/376,846 (Attorney Docket No. CP00328-02),and which issued on 8 Nov. 2018. Related subject matter is alsodisclosed in Applicants' co-pending U.S. Non-provisional patentapplication Ser. No. 14/850,904 (Attorney Docket No. CP00296-01), filed10 Sep. 2015. The entire contents of each of the above relatedapplications/patents are expressly incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND Technical Field

Aspects of the embodiments relate generally to control networks, andmore specifically to systems, methods, and modes for controllingcontrollable devices in the control network based on audio commandsalone, according to an aspect of the embodiments, and in further aspectsof the embodiments, controlling the controllable devices of the controlnetwork based on audio commands and other sensory information.

Background Art

Today, there are home control systems that include lighting, shades,environmental controls, security, audio-visual (AV), and other types ofsub-systems. In many of the currently available home control systems,the user can turn and off components of such systems (from hereon inreferred to as “controllable devices”), for example, lighting products,by a switch, one or more remote control (RC) devices (such as adedicated RC device, or through some other type of RC device), remotelythrough network messages (e.g., command and control messages through theinternet), and other means, such as speech.

In the latter case, users always desire more convenient methods formanaging controllable devices, and the advent of speech based control inhandheld devices has led to a desire for speech based control ofcontrollable devices. Currently, lights can be turned on and offautomatically when a user enters a room via use of a motion sensor.However, the motion sensor can take several minutes after an occupanthas left a room to turn off the lights. This leads to wasted energy andfrustration. Speech based control can allow a user to (relatively)quickly turn off lights while leaving a room. That is, when speech basedcontrol systems work.

As those of skill in the art can appreciate, there are several problemswith speech based control systems that must be addressed. Among them areinoperativeness, false positives, collocation issues, and privacyissues. In regard to inoperativeness, this is defined by the speechbased control system simply failing to respond at all to a propercommand. A false positive is when a user does not intend thecontrollable device to turn off, but it does. This can occur because thespeech recognition system misinterprets the recorded audible signal, andincorrectly applies a control, when one was not intended. Collocationissues can arise when two control devices are relatively close to eachother, and a command is heard by both, and both or the wrong device actson the command that was intended for a first control device, but not thesecond. The privacy issue arises when certain private areas of a home(e.g., the lavatory) are adjacent to other rooms; commands issued in ornear that room can be misinterpreted by the system, causing occupants tomake possible embarrassing counter-commands.

Accordingly, a need has arisen for more precise audible control of acontrol network and the controllable devices that make up the controlnetwork by providing systems, methods, and modes for controllingcontrollable devices in the control network based on audio commandsalone, according to an aspect of the embodiments, and in further aspectsof the embodiments, controlling the controllable devices of the controlnetwork based on audio commands and other sensory information.

SUMMARY

It is an object of the embodiments to substantially solve at least theproblems and/or disadvantages discussed above, and to provide at leastone or more of the advantages described below.

It is therefore a general aspect of the embodiments to provide systems,methods, and modes that will obviate or minimize problems of the typepreviously described by controlling controllable devices in a controlnetwork based on audio commands alone, according to an aspect of theembodiments, and in further aspects of the embodiments, controlling thecontrollable devices of the control network based on audio commands andother sensory information.

This Summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in asimplified form that are further described below in the DetailedDescription. This Summary is not intended to identify key features oressential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended tobe used to limit the scope of the claimed subject matter.

Further features and advantages of the aspects of the embodiments, aswell as the structure and operation of the various embodiments, aredescribed in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.It is noted that the aspects of the embodiments are not limited to thespecific embodiments described herein. Such embodiments are presentedherein for illustrative purposes only. Additional embodiments will beapparent to persons skilled in the relevant art(s) based on theteachings contained herein.

According to a first aspect of the embodiments, a system is provided fordetermining which controllable device an audible command is directedtowards, the system comprising two or more controllable devices; two ormore electronic devices, each of which is adapted to receive the audiblecommand, add a respective electronic device identifier to the receivedaudible command, time and date stamp the received audible command, andtransmit the respective time and date stamped versions of the audiblecommand, and wherein each of the two or more electronic device arefurther adapted to control respective ones of the two or morecontrollable devices; and a central processor adapted to receive each ofthe transmitted time and date stamped versions of the audible commandand perform processing based on the time and date stamp, wherein theelectronic device that reports the earlier time and date stamp, asascertained by the respective electronic device identifier and acomparison of each of the time and date stamps performed by the centralprocessor, is the electronic device to which the audible command isdirected towards.

According to the first aspect of the embodiments, the time and datestamped versions of the audible command further conveys amplitudeinformation of the respectively received audible command, and whereineach of the two or more electronic devices are further adapted tocompare the amplitudes of the received audible commands, and determine,based on the amplitude of the received audible commands, whichcontrollable device the audible command is directed towards, based on alarger amplitude.

According to a second aspect of the embodiments, a system is providedfor determining which controllable device an audible command is directedtowards, the system comprising two or more controllable devices; two ormore controlling devices, each of which is adapted to control respectiveones of the two or more controllable devices, receive the audiblecommand, digitize the received audible command, and transmit the same;and a central processor adapted to receive the transmitted digitizedaudible commands from the two or more controlling devices, and apply aspeech recognition algorithm to the received digitized audible commandsto determine which controllable device the received audible command isdirected towards.

According to the second aspect of the embodiments, the system furthercomprises the central processor being further adapted to prepare andtransmit a control command to the controllable device that the receivedaudible command was directed towards, to enact the audible command.

According to a third aspect of the embodiments, a method for determiningwhich controllable device an audible command is directed towards isprovided, the method comprising: receiving at two or more controllingdevices an audible command, the audible command directed to control atleast one of two or more controllable devices controlled by a respectiveone of the two or more controlling devices; digitizing the receivedaudible command and transmitting the same by each of the two or morecontrolling devices; receiving the transmitted digitized audiblecommands at a central processor and applying a speech recognitionalgorithm to determine which of the at least two or more controllabledevices the audible command was directed towards.

According to the third aspect of the embodiments, the method furthercomprises adding a unique controlling device identifier to the receivedaudible command at each respective controlling device; applying a timeand date stamp to the received audible command at each respectivecontrolling device; transmitting the respective time and date stampedversions of the received audible command; and receiving the transmittedtime and date stamped versions of the audible commands at a centralprocessor, the central processor adapted to receive each of thetransmitted time and date stamped versions of the audible command andperform processing based on the time and date stamp, and wherein thecentral processor is further adapted to determine the earliest time anddate stamp of each of the received audible commands by comparing each ofthe respective time and date stamps of each of the received audiblecommands; generating a command signal by the central processor andtransmitting the same to the controllable device that corresponds to thecontrolling device that had the earliest time and date stamp.

According to the third aspect of the embodiments, the method furthercomprises adding a unique controlling device identifier to the receivedaudible command at each respective controlling device; transmitting therespective audible commands with the unique controlling deviceidentifier; and receiving the transmitted audible commands at a centralprocessor, the central processor adapted to receive each of thetransmitted audible commands and applying a central processor generatedtime and date stamp to each received audible commands, and wherein thecentral processor is further adapted to determine the earliest time anddate stamp of each of the received audible commands by comparing each ofthe respective time and date stamps of each of the received audiblecommands; generating a command signal by the central processor andtransmitting the same to the controllable device that corresponds to thecontrolling device that had the earliest time and date stamp.

According to a fourth aspect of the embodiments, a method fordetermining which controllable device an audible command is directedtowards is provided, the method comprising: receiving at each of two ormore controlling devices the audible command, the audible command beingdirected to control at least one of two or more controllable devicescontrolled by a respective one of the two or more controlling devices;digitizing each of the received audible commands; attaching a time-datestamp to each of the digitized audible commands using a time-date stampgenerator that employs a time synch protocol, and further attaching aunique identifier to each of the time-date stamped digitized audiblecommands so as to uniquely correlate it to a respective controllingdevice; determining a first received digitized audible command on thebasis of an earliest time-date stamp, and further determining to whichcontrolling device the audible command is directed to on the basis ofthe unique identifier of the first received digitized audible command;performing speech recognition on the first received digitized audiblecommand to determine a command for a controllable device; and forwardingthe command to the controlling device corresponding to the firstreceived digitized audible command, the command corresponding to thespoken audible command that can be implemented on the controllabledevice controlled by the controlling device.

According to the fourth aspect of the embodiments, the method furthercomprises: receiving the command by the controlling device; andcontrolling the controllable device in accordance with the receivedcommand.

According to the fourth aspect of the embodiments, the step ofdetermining further comprises: determining a magnitude of each of thedigitized audible commands from respective controlling devices; andverifying that the magnitude of the digitized audible command with theearliest time-date stamp is equal to or larger than any other digitizedaudible commands.

According to the fourth aspect of the embodiments, the method furthercomprises: applying additional processing to determine which controllingdevice the received audible command is directed to if the magnitude ofthe received and digitized audible command with the earliest time-datestamp is less than any other received and digitized audible command.

According to the fourth aspect of the embodiments, the step of applyingadditional processing comprises: checking one or more of an occupancysensor reading, proximity sensor reading, and motion detector reading,each of which is associated with respective controlling devices todetermine which controlling device the received audible command isdirected to.

According to the fourth aspect of the embodiments, the method furthercomprises: determining that the occupancy sensor reading associated witha respective controlling device matches the received audible command inorder to determine that the received audible command should be appliedto the controllable device controlled by the respective controllingdevice.

According to the fourth aspect of the embodiments, the method furthercomprises: determining that the proximity sensor reading associated witha respective controlling device matches the received audible command inorder to determine that the received audible command should be appliedto the controllable device controlled by the respective controllingdevice.

According to the fourth aspect of the embodiments, the method furthercomprises: determining that the motion detector reading associated witha respective controlling device matches the received audible command inorder to determine that the received audible command should be appliedto the controllable device controlled by the respective controllingdevice.

According to the fourth aspect of the embodiments, the method furthercomprises: applying noise reduction processing.

According to the fourth aspect of the embodiments, the step of applyingnoise reduction to the received audible command comprises: filtering thereceived audible command in an analog domain to attenuate a firstbandwidth of noise energy.

According to the fourth aspect of the embodiments, the step of applyingnoise reduction comprises: using one or more of acoustic echocancellation filtering, direction of arrival filtering, anddirectionally adaptive beam forming filtering, to filter the digitizedaudible command in a digital domain to attenuate noise energy and toamplify audible command energy.

According to the fourth aspect of the embodiments, the noise energycomprises: noise energy generated by one or more of a fan motor, music,air conditioning noise, audio generated by multi-media presentations,and non-command words.

According to the fourth aspect of the embodiments, the method furthercomprises: receiving at least one additional audible command from atleast one additional spatially separated microphone, the at least oneadditional spatially separated microphone associated with a respectivecontrolling device; digitizing the at least one additional audiblecommand received from the at least one additional spatially separatedmicrophone; attaching a time-date stamp to the at least one digitizedadditional audible command, and further attaching a unique identifier toeach time-date stamped digitized additional audible command so as touniquely correlate it to its respective controlling device; and usingthe at least one additional digitized audible command to assist indetermining to which controlling device the audible command is directedto.

According to the fourth aspect of the embodiments, the step ofdetermining, on the basis of the time-date stamp, to which controllingdevice the digitized audible command is directed to, comprises:generating the time-date stamp using a time-date stamp generator, thetime-date stamp generator located in at least one controlling devicethat includes a plurality of microphones located at the controllingdevice; averaging all of the time-date stamps generated at thecontrolling device with a plurality of microphones; and attaching theaveraged time-date stamp to each of the plurality of digitized audiblecommands prior to the step of transmitting.

According to the fourth aspect of the embodiments, the steps ofdetermining, performing, and forwarding are performed by a centralcontroller.

According to the fourth aspect of the embodiments, the steps ofdigitizing, and attaching the time-date stamp are performed by thecontrolling device.

According to the fourth aspect of the embodiments, the controllabledevices include one or more of a sensor, lighting control device, shadedevice, audio/video device, environmental control device, securitydevice, household appliance, control device, and industrial device.

According to the fourth aspect of the embodiments, the controllingdevice comprises a keypad.

According to a fifth aspect of the embodiments, an acoustic sensornetwork is provided, comprising: two or more controllable devices; twoor more controlling devices, each of two or more controlling devicescomprising at least one respective microphone, a time-date stampgenerator, and an analog to digital converter, each of the two or morecontrolling devices being adapted to control a respective one of the twoor more controllable devices, and wherein each of the two or morecontrolling devices are further adapted to receive an audible commandthrough its respective microphone, the received audible command beingdirected to control one of the two or more controllable devicescontrolled by a respective controlling device, and wherein each of theanalog to digital converters are adapted to digitize the receivedaudible command, and wherein each of the two or more controlling devicesare further adapted to attach a time-date stamp to each of the digitizedaudible commands using the time-date stamp generator that employs a timesynch protocol and attach a unique identifier to each of the time-datestamped digitized audible commands so as to uniquely correlate thetime-date stamped digitized audible command to a respective controllingdevice; and a central controller adapted to determine, on the basis ofan earliest time-date stamp, a first received digitized audible commandand the controlling device to which the audible command is directed to,and wherein the central controller is further adapted to perform speechrecognition on the first received digitized audible command to determinea command for a controllable device, and wherein the central controlleris further adapted to forward the command to the controlling devicecorresponding to the first received digitized audible command, thecommand corresponding to the audible command that can be implemented onthe controllable device controlled by the controlling device.

According to the fifth aspect of the embodiments, the controlling devicethat receives the command is adapted to control the controllable devicein accordance with the received command.

According to the fifth aspect of the embodiments, the central controlleris further adapted to determine a magnitude of each of the digitizedaudible commands from respective controlling devices, and verify thatthe magnitude of the digitized audible command with the earliesttime-date stamp is equal to or larger than any other digitized audiblecommand signal.

According to the fifth aspect of the embodiments, the central controlleris further adapted to apply additional processing to determine whichcontrolling device the received audible command is directed to if themagnitude of the digitized audible command signal with the earliesttime-date stamp is less than any other received audible command.

According to the fifth aspect of the embodiments, the central controlleris further adapted to check one or more of an occupancy sensor reading,proximity sensor reading, and motion detector reading, each of which isassociated with respective controlling devices to determine whichcontrolling device the received audible command is directed to.

According to the fifth aspect of the embodiments, the central controlleris further adapted to determine that the occupancy sensor readingassociated with a respective controlling device matches the receivedaudible command in order to determine that the received audible commandshould be applied to the controllable device controlled by therespective controlling device.

According to the fifth aspect of the embodiments, the central controlleris further adapted to determine that the proximity sensor readingassociated with a respective controlling device matches the receivedaudible command in order to determine that the received audible commandshould be applied to the controllable device controlled by therespective controlling device.

According to the fifth aspect of the embodiments, the central controlleris further adapted to determine that the motion detector readingassociated with a respective controlling device matches the receivedaudible command in order to determine that the received audible commandshould be applied to the controllable device controlled by therespective controlling device.

According to the fifth aspect of the embodiments, the controlling devicefurther comprises a noise reduction processing circuit.

According to the fifth aspect of the embodiments, the noise reductionprocessing circuit is adapted to filter the received analog audiblecommand signal in an analog domain to attenuate a first bandwidth ofnoise energy.

According to the fifth aspect of the embodiments, the noise reductionprocessing circuit is adapted to use one or more of acoustic echocancellation filtering, direction of arrival filtering, anddirectionally adaptive beam forming filtering, to filter the digitalaudible command signal in a digital domain to attenuate noise energy andto amplify audible command energy.

According to the fifth aspect of the embodiments, the noise energycomprises: noise energy generated by one or more of a fan motor, music,air conditioning noise, audio generated by multi-media presentations,and non-command words.

According to the fifth aspect of the embodiments, the acoustic sensornetwork further comprises at least one additional spatially separatedmicrophone, adapted to receive the audible command and associated withone of the at least two controlling devices; an analog to digitalconverter associated with the at least one additional spatiallyseparated microphone, and adapted to digitize the received audiblecommand; a time-date stamp generator adapted to add a time-date stamp tothe at least one additional digitized audible command, and furtheradapted to add a unique identifier to the at least one time-datedstamped additional digitized audible command, the unique identifiercorresponding to the associated one of the controlling devices, andfurther wherein the central controller uses the at least one additionaldigitized audible command to assist in determining to which controllingdevice the audible command is directed to.

According to the fifth aspect of the embodiments, the controlling devicefurther comprises: a time-date stamp generator adapted to generate thetime-date stamp; and at least two microphones, each of which digitizesthe received audible command.

According to the fifth aspect of the embodiments, the controlling deviceis further adapted to average all of the time-date stamps generated atthe controlling device, and attach the averaged time-date stamps to eachof the plurality of digitized audible commands prior to transmitting thesame.

According to the fifth aspect of the embodiments, the controllabledevices include one or more of a sensor, lighting control device, shadedevice, audio/video device, environmental control device, securitydevice, household appliance, control device, and industrial device.

According to the fifth aspect of the embodiments, the controlling devicecomprises a keypad.

According to a sixth aspect of the embodiments, a method for determiningwhich controllable device an audible command is directed towards isprovided, the method comprising: receiving at each of two or morecontrolling devices the audible command signal, the audible commandbeing directed to control at least one of two or more controllabledevices controlled by a respective one of the two or more controllingdevices; digitizing each of the received audible command signals;attaching a unique identifier to each digitized audible command so as touniquely correlate it to a respective controlling device; determining amagnitude of each of the digitized audible command; determining adigitized audible command with the greatest magnitude, and furtherdetermining to which controlling device the audible command is directedto on the basis of the unique identifier associated with the digitizedaudible command with the greatest magnitude; performing speechrecognition on the digitized audible command with the greatestmagnitude; and forwarding a command to the controlling devicecorresponding to the digitized audible command with the greatestmagnitude, the command corresponding to the audible command that can beimplemented on the controllable device controlled by the controllingdevice.

According to the sixth aspect of the embodiments, the method furthercomprises: receiving the command by the controlling device; andcontrolling the controllable device in accordance with the receivedcommand.

According to the sixth aspect of the embodiments, the step ofdetermining further comprises: attaching a time-date stamp to thedigitized audible command; and verifying that the time-date stamp of thegreatest magnitude digitized audible command is the same or earlier thanany other digitized audible command.

According to the sixth aspect of the embodiments, the step of attachinga time-date stamp to the digitized audible command is performed by thecontrolling device that received the audible command through use of atime-date stamp generator using a time synch protocol.

According to the sixth aspect of the embodiments, the step of attachinga time-date stamp to the digitized audible command is performed by acentral controller.

According to the sixth aspect of the embodiments, the method furthercomprises: generating a test signal to determine a travel time from eachof the plurality of controlling devices to the central controller; andmodifying the time-date stamp of each received digitized audible commandsignal according to the travel time from a respective controlling deviceto the central processor, and using the modified time-date stamp toassist in determining to which controlling device the audible commandsignal is directed to.

According to the sixth aspect of the embodiments, the method furthercomprises: applying additional processing to determine which controllingdevice the audible command is directed to if the time-date stamp of thedigitized audible command with the largest magnitude is later than anyother digitized audible command.

According to the sixth aspect of the embodiments, the step of applyingadditional processing comprises: checking one or more of an occupancysensor reading, proximity sensor reading, and motion detector reading,each of which is associated with respective controlling devices todetermine which controlling device the audible command is directed to.

According to the sixth aspect of the embodiments, the method furthercomprises: determining that the occupancy sensor reading associated witha respective controlling device matches the audible command in order todetermine that the audible command should be applied to the controllabledevice controlled by the respective controlling device.

According to the sixth aspect of the embodiments, the method furthercomprises: determining that the proximity sensor reading associated witha respective controlling device matches the audible command in order todetermine that the audible command should be applied to the controllabledevice controlled by the respective controlling device.

According to the sixth aspect of the embodiments the method furthercomprises: determining that the motion detector reading associated witha respective controlling device matches the audible command in order todetermine that the audible command should be applied to the controllabledevice controlled by the respective controlling device.

According to the sixth aspect of the embodiments, the step of attachinga time-date stamp comprises: generating the time-date stamp using atime-date stamp generator, the time-date stamp generator located in atleast one controlling device that includes a plurality of microphoneslocated at the controlling device; averaging all of the time-date stampsgenerated at the controlling device with a plurality of microphones; andattaching the averaged time-date stamp to each of the plurality ofdigitized audible commands prior to the step of transmitting.

According to the sixth aspect of the embodiments, the method furthercomprises: applying noise reduction processing, and wherein the step ofapplying noise reduction to the audible command comprises: filtering thereceived audible command signal in an analog domain to attenuate a firstbandwidth of noise energy.

According to the sixth aspect of the embodiments, the step of applyingnoise reduction comprises: using one or more of acoustic echocancellation filtering, direction of arrival filtering, anddirectionally adaptive beam forming filtering, to filter the digitizedaudible command in a digital domain to attenuate noise energy and toamplify audible command energy.

According to the sixth aspect of the embodiments the noise energycomprises: noise energy generated by one or more of a fan motor, music,air conditioning noise, audio generated by multi-media presentations,and non-command words.

According to the sixth aspect of the embodiments, the method furthercomprises: receiving at least one additional audible command from atleast one additional spatially separated microphone, the at least oneadditional spatially separated microphone associated with a respectivecontrolling device; digitizing the at least one additional audiblecommand received from the at least one additional spatially separatedmicrophone; attaching a time-date stamp to the at least one additionaldigitized audible command, and further attaching a unique identifier toeach time-date stamped additional digitized audible command so as touniquely correlate it to its respective controlling device; and usingthe at least one additional digitized audible command in the step ofdetermining to which controlling device the audible command is directedto.

According to the sixth aspect of the embodiments, the steps ofdetermining a magnitude, determining to which controlling device theaudible command is directed to, performing, and forwarding are performedby a central controller.

According to the sixth aspect of the embodiments, the steps ofreceiving, digitizing, attaching the time-date stamp, and determining amagnitude, are performed by the controlling device.

According to the sixth aspect of the embodiments the controllabledevices include one or more of a sensor, lighting control device, shadedevice, audio/video device, environmental control device, securitydevice, household appliance, control device, and industrial device.

According to the sixth aspect of the embodiments, the controlling devicecomprises a keypad.

According to a seventh aspect of the embodiments, an acoustic sensornetwork is provided, comprising: two or more controllable devices; twoor more controlling devices, each of two or more controlling devicescomprising at least one respective microphone, and an analog to digitalconverter, each of the two or more controlling devices being adapted tocontrol a respective one of the two or more controllable devices, andwherein each of the two or more controlling devices are further adaptedto receive an audible command through at least one respectivemicrophone, the received audible command being directed to control oneof the two or more controllable devices controlled by a respectivecontrolling device, and wherein each of the analog to digital convertersare adapted to digitize the received audible command, and wherein eachof the two or more controlling devices are further adapted to attach aunique identifier to each of the digitized audible commands so as touniquely correlate it to a respective controlling device and transmitthe same; and a central controller adapted to receive each of thetransmitted digitized audible commands, determine a magnitude of each ofthe digitized audible commands, determine a digitized audible commandwith the greatest magnitude, and further determine to which controllingdevice the audible command is directed to on the basis of the uniqueidentifier associated with the digitized audible command with thegreatest magnitude, and wherein the central controller is furtheradapted to perform speech recognition on the digitized audible commandwith the greatest magnitude to determine a command for a controllabledevice, and wherein the central controller is further adapted to forwardthe command to the controlling device corresponding to the digitizedaudible command with the greatest magnitude, the command correspondingto the audible command that can be implemented on the controllabledevice controlled by the controlling device.

According to the seventh aspect of the embodiments, the controllingdevice that receives the command is adapted to control the controllabledevice in accordance with the received command.

According to the seventh aspect of the embodiments, each of thecontrolling devices are further adapted to attach a time-date stamp tothe digitized audible commands through use of a time-date stampgenerator using a time synch protocol, and wherein the centralcontroller is further adapted to verify that the time-date stamp of thedigitized audible command with the greatest magnitude is the same orearlier than the time-date stamp of any other digitized received audiblecommand signal.

According to the seventh aspect of the embodiments, the centralcontroller is further adapted to generate a test signal to determine atravel time from each of the plurality of controlling devices to thecentral controller, modify the time-date stamp of each receiveddigitized audible command signal according to the travel time from arespective controlling device to the central processor, and use themodified time-date stamp to assist in determining to which controllingdevice the audible command signal is directed to.

According to the seventh aspect of the embodiments, the centralcontroller is further adapted to apply additional processing todetermine which controlling device the received audible command isdirected to if the time-date stamp of the digitized audible commandsignal with the greatest magnitude is later than the time-date stamp anyother digitized audible command.

According to the seventh aspect of the embodiments, the centralcontroller is further adapted to check one or more of an occupancysensor reading, proximity sensor reading, and motion detector reading,each of which is associated with respective controlling devices todetermine which controlling device the received audible command isdirected to.

According to the seventh aspect of the embodiments, the centralcontroller is further adapted to determine that the occupancy sensorreading associated with a respective controlling device matches thereceived audible command in order to determine that the received audiblecommand should be applied to the controllable device controlled by therespective controlling device.

According to the seventh aspect of the embodiments, the centralcontroller is further adapted to determine that the proximity sensorreading associated with a respective controlling device matches thereceived audible command in order to determine that the received audiblecommand should be applied to the controllable device controlled by therespective controlling device.

According to the seventh aspect of the embodiments, the centralcontroller is further adapted to determine that the motion detectorreading associated with a respective controlling device matches thereceived audible command in order to determine that the received audiblecommand should be applied to the controllable device controlled by therespective controlling device.

According to the seventh aspect of the embodiments, the controllingdevice further comprises a noise reduction processing circuit.

According to the seventh aspect of the embodiments, the noise reductionprocessing circuit is adapted to filter the received audible command inan analog domain to attenuate a first bandwidth of noise energy.

According to the seventh aspect of the embodiments, the noise reductionprocessing circuit is adapted to use one or more of acoustic echocancellation filtering, direction of arrival filtering, anddirectionally adaptive beam forming filtering, to filter the digitizedaudible command in a digital domain to attenuate noise energy and toamplify audible command energy.

According to the seventh aspect of the embodiments, the noise energycomprises noise energy generated by one or more of a fan motor, music,air conditioning noise, audio generated by multi-media presentations,and non-command words.

According to the seventh aspect of the embodiments, the acoustic sensornetwork further comprises: at least one additional spatially separatedmicrophone, adapted to receive the audible command, and associated withone of the at least two controlling devices; an analog to digitalconverter associated with the at least one spatially separatedmicrophone, and adapted to digitize the received audible command; atime-date stamp generator adapted to add a time-date stamp to theadditional digitized audible command, and further adapted to add aunique identifier to the additional digitized audible command, theunique identifier corresponding to the associated one of the controllingdevices, and further wherein the central controller uses the at leastone additional digitized audible command to assist in determining towhich controlling device the audible command is directed to.

According to the seventh aspect of the embodiments, the controllingdevice further comprises: a time-date stamp generator adapted togenerate the time-date stamp; and at least two microphones, each ofwhich digitizes the received audible command.

According to the seventh aspect of the embodiments, the controllingdevice is further adapted to average all of the time-date stampsgenerated at the controlling device, and attach the averaged time-datestamps to each of the plurality of digitized audible commands prior totransmitting the same.

According to the seventh aspect of the embodiments, the controllabledevices include one or more of a sensor, lighting control device, shadedevice, audio/video device, environmental control device, securitydevice, household appliance, control device, and industrial device.

According to the seventh aspect of the embodiments, the controllingdevice comprises a keypad.

According to an eighth aspect of the embodiments, a method is providedfor determining which controllable device an audible command is directedtowards, the method comprising: receiving at each of two or morecontrolling devices the audible command signal, the audible commandbeing directed to control at least one of two or more controllabledevices controlled by a respective one of the two or more controllingdevices; digitizing each of the received audible command signals;performing speech recognition on each of the digitized audible commandsto determine which controllable device the command is directed towards;and determining that an occupancy sensor reading associated with arespective controlling device, within a predefined period of time beforethe audible command was received, indicates a recently occupied room,and applying the audible command to the controllable device in the roomthat was recently occupied.

According to the eighth aspect of the embodiments, the method furthercomprises: attaching a unique identifier to each digitized audiblecommand so as to uniquely correlate it to a respective controllingdevice; determining a magnitude of each of the digitized audiblecommands; and determining which digitized audible command has thegreatest magnitude, and further determining to which controlling devicethe audible command is directed to on the basis of the unique identifierassociated with the digitized audible command with the greatestmagnitude.

According to the eighth aspect of the embodiments, the method furthercomprises: forwarding the digitized audible command with the greatestmagnitude to the controlling device on the basis of the uniqueidentifier; and forwarding the digitized audible command to thecontrollable device controlled by the controlling device.

According to the eighth aspect of the embodiments, the method furthercomprises: attaching a time-date stamp to the digitized audible command;and verifying that the time-date stamp of the greatest magnitudedigitized audible command is the same or earlier than any otherdigitized audible command.

According to the eighth aspect of the embodiments, the method furthercomprises: applying additional processing to determine which controllingdevice the audible command is directed to if the time-date stamp of thedigitized audible command with the largest magnitude is later than anyother digitized audible command.

According to the eighth aspect of the embodiments, the step of applyingadditional processing comprises: checking one or more of a proximitysensor reading, and motion detector reading, each of which is associatedwith respective controlling devices to determine which controllingdevice the audible command is directed to.

According to the eighth aspect of the embodiments, the method furthercomprises: determining that the proximity sensor reading associated witha respective controlling device matches the audible command in order todetermine that the audible command should be applied to the controllabledevice controlled by the respective controlling device.

According to the eighth aspect of the embodiments, the method furthercomprises: determining that the motion detector reading associated witha respective controlling device matches the audible command in order todetermine that the audible command should be applied to the controllabledevice controlled by the respective controlling device.

According to the eighth aspect of the embodiments, the step of attachinga time-date stamp to the digitized audible command is performed by thecontrolling device that received the audible command through use of atime-date stamp generator using a time synch protocol.

According to the eighth aspect of the embodiments, the step of attachinga time-date stamp to the digitized audible command is performed by acentral controller.

According to the eighth aspect of the embodiments, the method furthercomprises: generating a test signal to determine a travel time from eachof the plurality of controlling devices to the central controller; andmodifying the time-date stamp of each received digitized audible commandsignal according to the travel time from a respective controlling deviceto the central processor, and using the modified time-date stamp toassist in determining to which controlling device the audible commandsignal is directed to.

According to the eighth aspect of the embodiments, the step of attachinga time-date stamp comprises: generating the time-date stamp using atime-date stamp generator, the time-date stamp generator located in atleast one controlling device that includes a plurality of microphoneslocated at the controlling device; averaging all of the time-date stampsgenerated at the controlling device with a plurality of microphones; andattaching the averaged time-date stamp to each of the plurality ofdigitized audible commands prior to the step of transmitting.

According to the eighth aspect of the embodiments, the method furthercomprises: applying noise reduction processing.

According to the eighth aspect of the embodiments, the step of applyingnoise reduction to the audible command comprises: filtering the receivedaudible command signal in an analog domain to attenuate a firstbandwidth of noise energy.

According to the eighth aspect of the embodiments, the step of applyingnoise reduction comprises: using one or more of acoustic echocancellation filtering, direction of arrival filtering, anddirectionally adaptive beam forming filtering, to filter the digitizedaudible command in a digital domain to attenuate noise energy and toamplify audible command energy.

According to the eighth aspect of the embodiments, the noise energycomprises: noise energy generated by one or more of a fan motor, music,air conditioning noise, audio generated by multi-media presentations,and non-command words.

According to the eighth aspect of the embodiments, the method furthercomprises: receiving at least one additional audible command from atleast one additional spatially separated microphone, the at least oneadditional spatially separated microphone associated with a respectivecontrolling device; digitizing the at least one additional audiblecommand received from the at least one additional spatially separatedmicrophone; attaching a time-date stamp to the at least one additionaldigitized audible command, and further attaching a unique identifier toeach time-date stamped additional digitized audible command so as touniquely correlate it to its respective controlling device; and usingthe at least one additional digitized audible command in the step ofdetermining to which controlling device the audible command is directedto.

According to the eighth aspect of the embodiments, the steps ofdetermining a magnitude, determining to which controlling device theaudible command is directed to, performing, and forwarding are performedby a central controller.

According to the eighth aspect of the embodiments, the steps ofreceiving, digitizing, attaching the time-date stamp, and determining amagnitude, are performed by the controlling device.

According to the eighth aspect of the embodiments, the controllabledevices include one or more of a sensor, lighting control device, shadedevice, audio/video device, environmental control device, securitydevice, household appliance, control device, and industrial device.

According to the eighth aspect of the embodiments, the controllingdevice comprises a keypad.

According to a ninth aspect of the embodiments, an acoustic sensornetwork is provided comprising: four or more controllable devices, atleast two of which are located in a first room and at least two of whichare located in a second room; two or more controlling devices, each ofthe two or more controlling devices comprising at least one respectivemicrophone, and an analog to digital converter, a first controllingdevice being located in the first room, and a second controlling devicebeing located in the second room, and wherein the first controllingdevice located in the first room is adapted to control the at least twocontrollable devices located in the first room, and the secondcontrolling device located in the second room is adapted to control theat least two controllable devices located in the second room, andfurther wherein each of the first and second controlling devices arefurther adapted to receive an audible command through the at least onerespective microphone, the received audible command being directed tocontrol one of the two or more controllable devices controlled by therespective controlling device, and wherein each of the analog-to-digitalconverters are adapted to digitize the received audible command; a firstoccupancy sensor located in the first room; a second occupancy sensorlocated in the second room; and a central controller adapted to receivethe digitized audible command and perform speech recognition todetermine which type of controllable device the digitized audiblecommand is directed towards, and wherein the central controller isfurther adapted to receive an output from each of the first and secondoccupancy sensors, wherein the output reports an occupied state of therespective room, and further wherein the central controller is adaptedto determine that an occupancy sensor reading associated with arespective controlling device, within a predefined period of time beforethe audible command was received, indicates a recently occupied room,and apply the audible command to the controllable device in the roomthat was recently occupied.

According to the ninth aspect of the embodiments, each of the two ormore controlling devices are further adapted to attach a uniqueidentifier to each of the digitized audible commands so as to uniquelycorrelate it to a respective controlling device and transmit the same,and wherein the central controller is further adapted to receive each ofthe transmitted digitized audible commands, determine a magnitude ofeach of the digitized audible commands, determine a digitized audiblecommand with the greatest magnitude, and further determine to whichcontrolling device the audible command is directed to on the basis ofthe unique identifier associated with the digitized audible command withthe greatest magnitude.

According to the ninth aspect of the embodiments, the central controlleris further adapted to forward the digitized audible command with thegreatest magnitude to the controlling device on the basis of the uniqueidentifier, and wherein the controlling device is further adapted toforward the digitized audible command to the controllable device.

According to the ninth aspect of the embodiments, each of thecontrolling devices are further adapted to attach a time-date stamp tothe digitized audible commands, and wherein the central controller isfurther adapted to verify that the time-date stamp of the digitizedaudible command with the greatest magnitude is the same or earlier thanthe time-date stamp of any other digitized received audible commandsignal.

According to the ninth aspect of the embodiments, the central controlleris further adapted to apply additional processing to determine whichcontrolling device the received audible command is directed to if thetime-date stamp of the digitized audible command signal with thegreatest magnitude is later than the time-date stamp any other digitizedaudible command.

According to the ninth aspect of the embodiments, the central controlleris further adapted to check one or more of a proximity sensor readingand motion detector reading, each of which is associated with respectivecontrolling devices to determine which controlling device the receivedaudible command is directed towards.

According to the ninth aspect of the embodiments, the central controlleris further adapted to determine that the proximity sensor readingassociated with a respective controlling device matches the receivedaudible command in order to determine that the received audible commandshould be applied to the controllable device controlled by therespective controlling device.

According to the ninth aspect of the embodiments, the central controlleris further adapted to determine that the motion detector readingassociated with a respective controlling device matches the receivedaudible command in order to determine that the received audible commandshould be applied to the controllable device controlled by therespective controlling device.

According to the ninth aspect of the embodiments, each of the respectivecontrolling devices are further adapted to attach the time-date stamp tothe digitized audible command received at the respective controllingdevice through use of a time-date stamp generator using a time synchprotocol.

According to the ninth aspect of the embodiments, the central controlleris further adapted to generate a test signal to determine a travel timefrom each of the plurality of controlling devices to the centralcontroller, modify the time-date stamp of each received digitizedaudible command signal according to the travel time from a respectivecontrolling device to the central processor, and use the modifiedtime-date stamp to assist in determining to which controlling device theaudible command signal is directed to.

According to the ninth aspect of the embodiments, the controlling devicefurther comprises: a time-date stamp generator adapted to generate thetime-date stamp; and at least two microphones, each of which digitizesthe received audible command, and wherein, the controlling device isfurther adapted to average all of the time-date stamps generated at thecontrolling device and attach the averaged time-date stamps to each ofthe plurality of digitized audible commands prior to transmitting thesame.

According to the ninth aspect of the embodiments, the controlling devicefurther comprises a noise reduction processing circuit.

According to the ninth aspect of the embodiments, the noise reductionprocessing circuit is adapted to filter the received audible command inan analog domain to attenuate a first bandwidth of noise energy.

According to the ninth aspect of the embodiments, the noise reductionprocessing circuit is adapted to use one or more of acoustic echocancellation filtering, direction of arrival filtering, anddirectionally adaptive beam forming filtering, to filter the digitizedaudible command in a digital domain to attenuate noise energy and toamplify audible command energy.

According to the ninth aspect of the embodiments, the noise energycomprises: noise energy generated by one or more of a fan motor, music,air conditioning noise, audio generated by multi-media presentations,and non-command words.

According to the ninth aspect of the embodiments, the acoustic sensornetwork further comprises: at least one additional spatially separatedmicrophone, adapted to receive the audible command, and associated withone of the at least two controlling devices; an analog to digitalconverter associated with the at least one spatially separatedmicrophone, and adapted to digitize the received audible command; atime-date stamp generator adapted to add a time-date stamp to theadditional digitized audible command, and further adapted to add aunique identifier to the additional digitized audible command, theunique identifier corresponding to the associated one of the controllingdevices, and further wherein the central controller uses the at leastone additional digitized audible command to assist in determining towhich controlling device the audible command is directed to.

According to the ninth aspect of the embodiments, the controllabledevices include one or more of a sensor, lighting control device, shadedevice, audio/video device, environmental control device, securitydevice, household appliance, control device, and industrial device.

According to the ninth aspect of the embodiments, the controlling devicecomprises: a keypad.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and other objects and features of the embodiments will becomeapparent and more readily appreciated from the following description ofthe embodiments with reference to the following figures. Differentaspects of the embodiments are illustrated in reference figures of thedrawings. It is intended that the embodiments and figures disclosedherein are to be considered to be illustrative rather than limiting. Thecomponents in the drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale, emphasisinstead being placed upon clearly illustrating the principles of theaspects of the embodiments. In the drawings, like reference numeralsdesignate corresponding parts throughout the several views.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING

FIG. 1 illustrates a block diagram of a control network for controllingone or more controllable devices in a home, business, or enterpriseenvironment according to aspects of the embodiments.

FIG. 2 illustrates a block diagram of a controller for use in thecontrol network of FIG. 1 according to aspects of the embodiments.

FIG. 3 illustrates a block diagram of a gateway for use in the controlnetwork of FIG. 1 according to aspects of the embodiments.

FIG. 4 illustrates a block diagram of a personal electronic device foruse with the control system of FIG. 1 according to aspects of theembodiments.

FIG. 5 illustrates a block diagram of a wall mount keypad for use in thecontrol network as shown in FIG. 1, wherein the wall mount keypad can beused as part of an acoustic sensory network according to aspects of theembodiments.

FIG. 6 illustrates a simplified view of the generation and detection ofsound waves as used in the aspects of the embodiments.

FIG. 7 illustrates a plan view of a floor of a house in which the systemand method for determining which controllable device an audible commandis directed to can be used according to aspects of the embodiments.

FIG. 8 illustrates a flow diagram of a method for determining whichcontrollable device an audible command is directed to according toaspects of the embodiments.

FIG. 9 illustrates processing and memory components/circuitry of one ormore of the personal electronic device 104 of FIG. 4, gateway device 114of FIG. 3, controller 116 of FIG. 2, and any other devices that uses oneor more processors as described herein that uses software and/orapplications to perform various functions and actions as describedherein according to aspects of the embodiments.

FIG. 10 illustrates several audio processing blocks that can occurwithin either or both of an audio processing board and a voicerecognition system-on-a-chip circuit according to aspects of theembodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The embodiments are described more fully hereinafter with reference tothe accompanying drawings, in which embodiments of the inventive conceptare shown. In the drawings, the size and relative sizes of layers andregions may be exaggerated for clarity. Like numbers refer to likeelements throughout. The embodiments may, however, be embodied in manydifferent forms and should not be construed as limited to theembodiments set forth herein. Rather, these embodiments are provided sothat this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fullyconvey the scope of the inventive concept to those skilled in the art.The scope of the embodiments is therefore defined by the appendedclaims. The detailed description that follows is written from the pointof view of a control systems company, so it is to be understood thatgenerally the concepts discussed herein are applicable to varioussubsystems and not limited to only a particular controlled device orclass of devices, such as home controllable devices.

Reference throughout the specification to “one embodiment” or “anembodiment” means that a particular feature, structure, orcharacteristic described in connection with an embodiment is included inat least one embodiment of the embodiments. Thus, the appearance of thephrases “in one embodiment” on “in an embodiment” in various placesthroughout the specification is not necessarily referring to the sameembodiment. Further, the particular feature, structures, orcharacteristics may be combined in any suitable manner in one or moreembodiments.

List of Reference Numbers for the Elements in the Drawings in NumericalOrder

The following is a list of the major elements in the drawings innumerical order.

-   100 Control Network-   102 Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers standard (IEEE)    802.15.4 Low Rate Wireless Personal Area Network (LR-PAN)    (Communication Network)-   104 Portable Electronic Device (PED)-   106 Control Point/User Interface/Keypad (Keypad)-   108 Sensor-   110 Lighting Control Device (Lighting Device)-   112 Shade Control Device (Shade Device)-   114 Gateway Device-   115 First Antenna-   116 Controller (Controller)-   117 Second Antenna-   118 Audio/Video (AV) Device-   119 Third Antenna-   120 Heating Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC) Device-   122 Security Device-   124 Household Appliances-   126 Control Device-   128 Industrial Device-   130 Repeaters-   132 Internet-   134 Local Area Network (LAN)-   136 Router/Firewall-   202 Central Processor Unit (CPU)-   204 Nonvolatile Storage-   206 Main Memory-   208 Network Interfaces-   210 Wired I/O Interface-   212 Low Rate Wireless Personal Area Network (LR-WPAN) Transceiver    (LR-WPAN Transceiver) (IEEE 802.15.4)-   214 Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) Transceiver (WLAN    Transceiver) (IEEE 802.11)-   216 3G/4G/LTE Wireless Wide Area Network (WWAN) Cellular Transceiver    (Cellular Transceiver)-   218 Programmable Relay Ports-   220 Internal Bus-   222 Audible Command Processing and Determination Program-   302 Network Interface-   304 Power On/Off LED-   306 Network Activity Indicator LED-   308 Activity Indicator LED-   310 Acquire Button-   312 Setup Button-   314 Wireless Transceiver-   316 Processor-   318 Internal Bus-   402 Central Processing Unit-   406 Location Sensing Circuitry-   408 User Interface-   410 Display-   412 Non-volatile Storage-   414 Main Memory-   416 NFC Interface-   418 Accelerometers-   420 Camera-   502 Display/Touch Panel-   504 Microphone-   505 Audio Processing Board-   506 Pre-amplifier-   508 Analog-to-Digital Converter (ADC)-   510 60 Hz Notch Filter-   512 Processor-   516 Internal Bus-   518 LAN/Ethernet Connector (IEEE 802.3)-   520 Voice Recognition (VR) System-on-a-Chip (SoC) Circuit (VR SoC    Circuit)-   702 Proximity Sensor-   800 Method for Determining Which Controllable Device an Audible    Command is Directed Towards-   802-812 Method Steps of Method 800-   900 Personal Computer/Laptop/Tablet/Personal Electronic Device    (PED)/Server (PC)-   902 Integrated Display/Touch-Screen (laptop/tablet etc.)-   904 Internal Data/Command Bus (Bus)-   906 Processor Internal Memory-   908 Processor(s)-   910 Universal Serial Bus (USB) Port-   911 Ethernet Port-   912 Compact Disk (CD)/Digital Video Disk (DVD) Read/Write (RW)    (CD/DVD/RW) Drive-   914 Floppy Diskette Drive-   916 Hard Disk Drive (HDD)-   918 Read-Only Memory (ROM)-   920 Random Access Memory (RAM)-   922 Video Graphics Array (VGA) Port or High Definition Multimedia    Interface (HDMI)-   924 External Memory Storage Device-   932 Processor Board/PC Internal Memory (Internal Memory)-   934 Flash Drive Memory-   936 CD/DVD Diskettes-   938 Floppy Diskettes-   940 Executable Software Programming Code/Application (Application,    or “App”)-   956 Universal Serial Bus (USB) Cable-   1002 Analog Processing Circuit-   1004 Time-Date Stamp Generator-   1006 Acoustic Echo Cancellation Block-   1008 Direction of Arrival Block-   1010 Directionally Adaptive Beam Forming Block

List of Acronyms Used in the Specification in Alphabetical Order

The following is a list of the acronyms used in the specification inalphabetical order.

-   3G Third Generation Cellular Telecommunications Network-   4G Fourth Generation Cellular Telecommunications Network-   ACPD Audio Command Processing and Determination-   ADC Analog-to-Digital Converter-   ASIC Application Specific Integrated Circuit-   ASN Acoustic Sensory Network-   AV Audio Video-   CPU Central Processing Unit-   CRT Cathode Ray Tubes-   DHCP Dynamic Host Communication Protocol-   EDGE GSM Evolution-   EGPRS Enhanced GPRS-   GPRS general packet radio service-   GPS Global Positioning System-   GSM Global System for Mobile Communications-   HDD Hard Disk Drive-   HVAC Heating Ventilation and Air Conditioning-   Hz Hertz-   I/O Input/Output-   IEEE Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers-   IMT International Mobile Telecommunications-   IR Infrared-   IrDA Infra-Red Data Association-   ISO International Standards Organization-   LAN Local Area Network-   LED Light Emitting Diode-   LMS Least Mean Square(s)-   LR-WPAN Low Rate Wireless Personal Area Network-   MEMS Microelectromechanical System-   MODEM Modulator/Demodulator-   NFC Near Field Communications-   NIC Network Interface Card-   NWC Network Controller-   NWI Network Interface-   OCR Optical Character Recognition-   OLED Organic LED-   OS Operating System-   PAN Personal Area Network-   PED Personal Electronic Device-   RAM Random Access Memory-   RFID Radio Frequency Identification-   RISC Reduced Instruction Set Processor-   ROM Read Only Memory-   SC Single Carrier-   SoC System-on-a-Chip-   SRA Speech Recognition Algorithm-   USB Universal Serial Bus-   UWB Ultra-Wide Band-   VDC Voltage, Direct Current-   VR Voice Recognition-   WAN Wide Area Network-   Wi-Fi IEEE 802.11n Wireless Communication Standard (Where “n”    includes, “a,” “b,” or “g,” among others)

The different aspects of the embodiments described herein pertain to thecontext of a home, office, or enterprise location control network, butis not limited thereto, except as may be set forth expressly in theappended claims.

For 40 years Creston Electronics Inc., of Rockleigh, N.J., has been theworld's leading manufacturer of advanced control and automation systems,innovating technology to simplify and enhance modern lifestyles andbusinesses. Crestron designs, manufactures, and offers for saleintegrated solutions to control audio, video, computer, andenvironmental systems. In addition, the devices and systems offered byCrestron streamlines technology, improving the quality of life incommercial buildings, universities, hotels, hospitals, and homes, amongother locations. Accordingly, the systems, methods, and modes of theaspects of the embodiments described herein, as embodied as controlnetwork 100, and its constituent components, can be manufactured byCrestron Electronics, Inc., located in Rockleigh, N.J.

FIG. 1 illustrates a block diagram of control network 100 that includescontrollable devices, monitoring devices, and active devices accordingto aspects of the embodiments. Control network 100 comprises portableelectronic device (PED) 104, control point (e.g., keypad) 106, gatewaydevice (gateway) 114, controller (controller) 116, and one or morecontrollable devices such as, but not limited to, sensors 108, lightingcontrol devices (lighting device) 110, shade control devices (shadedevice) 112, audio/video (NV) devices 118, heating ventilation and airconditioning (HVAC) devices 120, and security devices 122. As those ofskill in the art can appreciate, there can be one or more of each of thecontrollable devices, and controller 116, PED 104, keypad 106, andgateway 114. According to further aspects of the embodiments, gateway114 and controller 116 can be part of the same device, as the dashedline box around the two indicates. According to further aspects of theembodiments, while ostensible all or substantially all of thecontrollable devices will be wireless devices, one or more can beconnected to gateway 114 and/or controller 116 by cabling (not shown).

Also shown in FIG. 1 are first antenna 115, second antenna 117, andthird antenna 119. First antenna 115 is designed to work in thefrequency band appropriate for Institute of Electrical and ElectronicEngineers (IEEE) standard 802.11 n, where n can be one of “a,” “b,” and“g,” among other versions of the standard (herein after referred to as“802.11”). As those of skill in the art can appreciate, the IEEE 802.11standards encompass wireless local area networks (LANs), in this case,those that are referred to as “Wi-Fi” networks. Thus, first antenna 115is an antenna capable of transceiving Wi-Fi signals. First antenna 115is therefore included as part of PED 104, controller 116, whichcommunicate via communication network 134, described in greater detailbelow, as well as any of the devices 106, 108, 110, 112, 118, 120, 122,124, 126, 128, and 130. Each component that includes first antenna 115also can include a suitably arranged transceiver, such as a Wi-Fitransceiver, which can process signals for Wi-Fi (IEEE 802.11)transmission and reception thereof as well.

Second antenna 117 is designed to work in the frequency band appropriatefor IEEE standard 802.15.n, where n can be one of 3, 4, 5, 6, amongother versions of the standard (herein after referred to as “802.15”).As those of skill in the art can appreciate, the IEEE 802.15 standardsencompass low rate wireless personal area wireless networks (LR WPANs).In this case, the LR WPAN can be one those that are referred to as“ZigBee” networks, or, according to further aspects of the embodiments,an Infinet® as designed and manufactured by Crestron Electronics, Inc.,of Rockleigh, N.J. (among other types of LR WPANs, which can includeWirelessHart, Mi-Wi, and Thread, among others). Thus, second antenna 117is an antenna capable of transceiving ZigBee or Infinet signals.Included in any of the devices that includes second antenna 117 (whichcan include one or more of devices 104, 106, 108, 110, 112, 114, 116,118, 120, 122, 124, 126, 128, and 130) is a suitably arrangedtransceiver, such as IEEE 802.15.4 LR-WPAN transceiver (LR-WPANtransceiver) 214 that can process signals for ZigBee/Infinettransmission and reception thereof as well. All of the othercontrollable devices can also utilize such wireless communicationsdevices, so one, some, or all of them can also include second antenna117, and be also equipped with a suitable transceiver, for substantiallysimilar purposes as that of gateway device 114, among others, such askeypad 106.

According to further aspects of the embodiments, each of the devices ofnetwork 100, which can include devices 104, 106, 108, 110, 112, 114,116, 118, 120, 122, 124, 126, 128, and 130, can further include thirdantenna 119, which is adapted to work with one or more of thirdgeneration (3G), fourth generation (4G), and long term evolution (LTE)cellular (cellular) transceiver 216. Thus, controller 116 includes thirdantenna 119 and cellular transceiver 216 according to aspects of theembodiments.

As those of skill in the art can appreciate, and in fulfillment of thedual purposes of clarity and brevity, a more detailed discussion of theinternal operation of controller 116 is not needed to understand thevarious aspects of the embodiments described herein, and therefore hasbeen omitted from this discussion herein. However, such detaileddiscussion can be found in the co-pending related U.S. Non-provisionalPatent Application referenced above, the entire contents of which arehereby incorporated herein in its entirety.

Control network 100 further comprises Institute of Electrical andElectronic Engineers standard (IEEE) 802.15.4 communication network(communication network) 102. As those of skill in the art canappreciate, there can be one or more of each of the controllable orcontrolling devices described above in network 100, and even two or morecommunication networks 102 a,b according to aspects of the embodiments.Control network 100 can further include local area network (LAN) 134(which can be an IEEE 802.3 communication network (e.g., Ethernet),router/firewall 136, and internet 132. As shown in FIG. 1, PED 104 canaccess control network 100 through internet 132 and/or LAN 134. In theformer, a router/firewall 136 can be used to protect control network 100and direct commands from PED 104 to the remaining components of controlnetwork 100, as well as provide feedback information to PED 104 from thedevices of control network 100. As those of skill in the art canappreciate, a firewall a system designed to prevent unauthorized accessto or from a private network. Firewalls can be implemented in eitherhardware or software, or a combination of both. A router is a devicethat forwards data packets along networks. A router can be connected toat least two networks and are located at gateways.

According to further aspects of the embodiments, sensors 108 provideinformation to the various hardware and software components of thesystem and method of the aspects of the embodiments that can be used toascertain the location, movements, and mannerisms of the users ofcontrol network 100. That is, sensors 108 can be used in helping todetermine patterns of usage, and also to augment decision makingcapabilities in determining what actions to take (e.g., open or closeshades based on occupancy (or lack thereof)), or what actions not totake, as the case may be, according to aspects of the embodiments.

According to aspects of the embodiments, the one or more controllabledevices comprise lighting control device (lighting device) 110, whichcan include devices such as a lighting dimmer, and shade control device(shade device) 112, which can include devices such as a shade motor. Itshould be understood that the controllable devices are not limited to adimmer and a shade motor. For example, lighting device 110 can be aswitch or a relay panel, and shade device 112 can be a drapery motor ora smart window film. Additionally, those of skill in the art canappreciate that the controllable devices are not limited to lightingcontrol devices and shade control devices. For example, the controllabledevices can be: A/V devices 118 that can include one or more of contentsources (audio source, video source), content sinks (stereos withspeakers, televisions, and the like), video recorders, audio receivers,speakers, projectors, and the like; Lighting devices 110 that caninclude one or more of lamps, ballasts, light emitting diode (LED)drivers; HVAC devices 120 that can include one or more of thermostats,occupancy sensors, air conditioning units, heating units, filtrationsystems, fans, humidifiers, and the like; Shading devices 112 that caninclude one or more of motorized window treatments, dimmable windows,and the like; Security devices 122 that can include one or more ofsecurity cameras, monitors, door locks, and the like; Householdappliances 124 that can include one or more of refrigerators, ovens,blenders, microwaves, and the like; Control devices 126 that can includeone or more of switches, relays, current limiting devices, and the like;and Industrial devices 128 that can include one or more of motors,pumps, chillers, air compressors, and the like.

In addition, control network 100 can comprise one or more control points106 for receiving user inputs to control each of the one or morecontrollable devices. Control points 106 can be keypads, touch-panels,remote controls, and thermostats. For the purposes of this discussion,and in fulfillment of the dual purposes of clarity and brevity, controlpoints shall herein after be referred to as keypads 106. Additionally,keypads 106 can be user interfaces of the controllable devicesthemselves. Keypads 106 can transmit control commands to and throughcommunication network 102 to control each of the other controllabledevices of control network 100, as well as communicate informationto/from such controllable devices. For example, keypads 106 cancommunicate with each of the controllable devices or with controller 116either directly or via one or more of gateways 114 and/or repeaters 130(repeaters 130 can communicate with additions control networks 100 b,and/or communication networks 102 b, and so on).

According to further aspects of the embodiments, keypad 106 can comprisefeedback indicators to provide feedback to the user. The feedbackindicators can include any combination of visual feedback indicators,haptic feedback indicators, and audible feedback indicators. Feedbackindication control can be provided by keypad 106 upon receiving a userinput, upon requesting feedback, or upon a change in the status of anyof the controllable devices 108-130, and PED 104.

Such controllable lighting devices 110 and controllers 116 can bemanufactured by Crestron Electronics Inc., of Rockleigh, N.J. Forexample, one or more controllable lighting devices 110 and controllers116 can comprise the following devices, each available from CrestronElectronics: CLW-DIMEX wireless lighting dimmer, CLW-DELVEX wirelesslighting dimmer, CLW-SWEX wireless switch, CLW-DIMSWEX wirelessswitch/dimmer combination, CLW-LSWEX wireless lamp switch, CLF-LDIMUEXwireless lamp dimmer, CLWI-DIMUEX universal phase dimmer, CLWI-SWEXin-wall switch, CLWI-1SW2EX in-wall 2-channel switch, CLWI-DIMFLVEX0-10V Dimmer, CLCI-DIMUEX wireless in-ceiling dimmer, CLCI-1 DIMFLV2EXwireless In-Ceiling 0-10V dimmer, CLCI-1SW2EX wireless in-ceilingswitch, CLC-1 DIMFLV2EX-24V wireless in-ceiling 0-10V dimmer.

Other components of control network 100 can also be manufactured byCrestron Electronics Inc. These include one or more controllable shadedevices 112 and controllers 116 that comprise the following devices:CSC-ACEX infiNET EX® Interface to shade motor, CSC-DCEX infiNET EX®interface to Crestron CSM-QMT30 Shades, CSC-DRPEX, and the CSM-QMT50EXQMT motor.

In addition, the one or more keypads 106 can comprise the followingdevices, also available from Crestron Electronics, Inc.: INET-CBDEXCameo® Express Wireless Keypad with infiNET EX®, HTT-B2EXbattery-powered infiNET EX® 2-button Wireless Keypad, and CLWI-KPLEXon-wall wireless lighting keypad.

As described above, sensors 108 can be included in control network 100according to aspects of the embodiments. Such sensors 108 can includeoccupancy sensors, and motion sensors, as well as sensors 108 related tofire and smoke detection, bio-hazard sensors, and the like. The one ormore sensors 108 can comprise the following devices, each available fromCrestron Electronics, Inc. of Rockleigh, N.J.: GLS-OIR-CSM-EX-BATTbattery-powered infiNET EX® occupancy sensor.

Controller 116 can be connected to the various controllable devices viaeither or both of a wired and wireless connection. The one or morecontrollers 116 can be a DIN-AP3MEX DIN Rail 3-Series® AutomationProcessor with infiNET EX®, or an MC3 3-Series Control System® withinfiNET EX®, each of which are available from Crestron Electronics Inc.of Rockleigh N.J. Any one or more of these controllers 116 can provide asubstantially complete integrated automation solution. According toaspects of the embodiments, the various controllable devices of thefacility or enterprise become integrated and accessible throughoperation of controller 116. According to further aspects of theembodiments, controller 116 can be a server, a personal computer (PC),or any other electronic device capable of processing electrical signals.Still further, according to further aspects of the embodiments,controller 116 further comprises a web x-panel project, to allow for PCbased setup. According to still further aspects of the embodiments,controller 116 can be a device manufactured by Crestron Electronics,Inc., of Rockleigh, N.J., comprising a PYNG-HUB. As shown in FIG. 1,controller 116 and gateway 114 can be arranged as two separate devices,but, as indicated by the dashed line forming a box around 114, 116, theycan be arranged to be one device, or contained within a singleenclosure.

According to still further aspects of the embodiments, each of thedevices in FIG. 1 can be interconnected with other components in eitheror both of a wired or wireless manner. For example, PED 104 can connectto internet 132 via a cellular communications interface, or can beconnected through router/firewall device 136 using conventional Ethernetcables. And, as shown in FIG. 1, PED 104 can be connected to LAN 134 viaa wired interface (typically a category 5 type cable, i.e., Ethernetcable), or via a wireless interface such as the Wi-Fi connection that isalso shown. According to still further aspects of the embodiments, eachof the controllable and controlled devices of FIG. 1, such as sensors108, controller 116, and gateway device 114, can use a wireless protocolsuch as infiNET EX. Other wireless communications protocols can also beused.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of controller 116 for use with control network100 according to an aspect of the embodiments. Controller 116 can beused to control various controllable devices, such as, for example,those described and discussed above that include, among others,controllable devices 108, 110, 112, 118, 120, 122, 124, 126, 128, and130 (security devices (e.g., door locks), lighting system devices,blinds/drapes, HVAC system devices, and sensors such as motion sensors,among many others). One or more controllers 116 can comprise one or morelogic engines for processing control commands.

Controller 116 can include at least one central processing unit (CPU)202, as well as internal bus 220, the operation of which is known tothose of skill in the art. For example, CPU 202 can represent one ormore microprocessors, and the microprocessors may be “general purpose”microprocessors, a combination of general and special purposemicroprocessors, or application specific integrated circuits (ASICs).Additionally, or alternatively, the CPU 191 may include one or morereduced instruction set processors (RISC), video processors, or relatedchip sets. CPU 22 can provide processing capability to execute an, runvarious applications, and/or provide processing for one or more of thetechniques described herein. Applications that can run on controller 116can include, for example, software for processing control commands,software for managing a calendar, software for controlling otherelectronic devices via a control network as noted above, among othertypes of software/applications.

Controller 116 can further include main memory 206, which can becommunicably coupled to CPU 202, and which can store data and executablecode, as known to those of skill in the art. Main memory 206 canrepresent volatile memory such as random access memory (RAM), but mayalso include nonvolatile memory, such as read-only memory (ROM) or Flashmemory. In buffering or caching data related to operations of CPU 202,main memory 206 can store data associated with applications running oncontroller 116.

Controller 116 can also further include nonvolatile storage 204.Nonvolatile storage 204 can represent any suitable, nonvolatile storagemedium, such as a hard disk drive (HDD) or nonvolatile memory, such asflash memory. Being well-suited to long-term storage, nonvolatilestorage 204 can store data files such as media, software, and preferenceinformation. Nonvolatile storage 204 can be removable andinterchangeable, thereby allowing portability of stored files, such asproject files, created during programming of control network 100.According to aspects of the embodiments, project files can be used tomap user desires into functions; as used thusly, project files areconfiguration files. These project files describe all the devicescontrol system 100 knows about, what their buttons are configured to do,what types of devices they are, how they operate, and the operatingparameters, among other features of each controllable device associatedwith control network 100. According to further aspects of theembodiments, project files can also be used to keep track of schedulingdata, which users are using the system (e.g., identifiable by PED 104).

Also shown as part of controller 116 is network interface 208. Networkinterface 208 provides interface capability with one or more of severaldifferent types of network interfaces, including LR-PAN transceiver 212,WLAN transceiver 214, and cellular transceiver 216. Each of transceivers212, 214, and 216 can provide wireless connectivity for controller 116via respective ones of first, second, and third antennas 115, 117, and119. Network interface 208 can represent, for example, one or morenetwork interface controllers (NICs) or a network controller. As thoseof skill in the art can appreciate, the difference between a LAN and PANcan be less certain, and more one of degree; that is, in some cases,PANs are defined as those interconnections of devices that are within afew meters of each other, while other definitions indicated that devicesthat are within ten meters or so and are interconnected in a manner thatcan be considered to be within a PAN. Regardless of the exactdefinition, or, if no exact definition should ever exist, control system100 can make use of each of a WAN, LAN, and PAN, or sometimes two or allthree at one time, depending on the circumstances, as those of skill inthe art can now appreciate.

According to certain aspects of the embodiments, network interface 208can include LR-WPAN transceiver 212. LR-WPAN transceiver 212 can providecapabilities to network with, for example, a Bluetooth® network, a nearfield communication (NFC) type network, an IEEE 802.15.4 (e.g. ZigBee)network among others. As can be appreciated by those of skill in theart, the networks accessed by LR-WPAN transceiver 212 can, but do notnecessarily, represent low power, low bandwidth, or close range wirelessconnections. LR-WPAN transceiver 212 can permit one electronic device toconnect to another local electronic device via an ad-hoc or peer-to-peerconnection. However, the connection can be disrupted if the separationbetween the two electronic devices exceeds the proscribed rangecapability of PAN interface 212. As those of skill in the art canappreciate, the networks described by IEEE 802.15.4 are mesh-typenetworks, and operate with a central router/coordinator; in controlnetwork 100, the function of such central coordination is performed byone or more controller 116 and/or gateway 114, according to aspects ofthe embodiments.

Network interface 208 can also include WLAN transceiver 214. WLANtransceiver 214 can represent an interface to a wireless LAN, such as an802.11 wireless network. The range of WLAN transceiver 214 can generallyexceed the range available via LR-WPAN transceiver 212. Additionally, inmany cases, a connection between two electronic devices via WLANtransceiver 214 can involve communication through a network router orother intermediary device (not shown in FIG. 2). WLAN transceivers 214can also incorporate an ultra-wideband network.

According to further aspects of the embodiments in regard to controller116, network interfaces 208 can include the capability to connectdirectly to a WAN via cellular transceiver 216. Cellular transceiver 216can permit connection to a cellular data network, such as the enhanceddata rates for global system for mobile communications (GSM) Evolution(EDGE) (also known as enhanced general packet radio service (GPRS)(EGPRS), or international mobile telecommunications (IMT) single carrier(IMT-SC) EDGE network, or other third generation/further generation(3G/4G) cellular telecommunication networks (a detailed discussion ofwhich is both not needed to understand the aspects of the embodiments,and beyond the scope of this discussion). When connected via cellulartransceiver 216, controller 116 can remain connected to the internetand, in some embodiments, to one or more other electronic devices,despite changes in location that might otherwise disrupt connectivityvia LR-WPAN transceiver 212, or WLAN transceiver 214. Also shown in FIG.2 as a component of controller 116 is internal bus 220, which providessignal and data flow to and between all of the internal components ofcontroller 116 in a manner known to those of skill in the art.

As known by those of skill in the art, Ethernet connectivity enablesintegration with IP-controllable devices and allows controller 116 to bepart of a larger managed control network. Whether residing on asensitive, security-conscious corporate LAN 134, a home network, oraccessing Internet 132 through a cable modem, controller 116 can providesecure, reliable interconnectivity with IP-enabled devices, such astouch screens (which can be part of keypad 106), computers, mobiledevices, video displays, Blu-ray Disc® players, media servers, securitysystems, lighting, HVAC, and other equipment—both locally and globally.

Controller 116 can also include one or more wired input/output (I/O)interface 210 for a wired connection between controller 116 and one ormore electronic devices. Wired I/O interface 210 can represent a serialport. A serial port, as those of skill in the art can appreciate, is aserial communication physical interface through which informationtransfers in or out one bit at a time (as opposed to a parallel port,which transmits several bits (typically in groups of 8 bits wide)substantially simultaneously). While it is known that interfaces such asEthernet, FireWire, and USB, all send data as a serial stream, the term“serial port” usually identifies hardware more or less compliant to theRS-232 standard, intended to interface with a modem or with a similarcommunication device.

Wired I/O interface 210 can also represent, for example, a Cresnet port.Cresnet provides a network wiring solution for Crestron keypads,lighting controls, thermostats, and other devices that do not requirethe higher speed of Ethernet. The Cresnet bus offers wiring andconfiguration, carrying bidirectional communication and 24 VDC power toeach device over a simple 4-conductor cable.

One or more infrared (IR) interfaces can also be part of wired I/Ointerface 210; the IR interface can enable controller 116 to receiveand/or transmit signals with infrared light. The IR interface can complywith an infrared data acquisition (IrDA) specification for datatransmission. Alternatively, the IR interface can function exclusivelyto receive control signals or to output control signals. The IRinterface can provide a direct connection with one or more devices suchas a centralized AV sources, video displays, and other devices.

Controller 116 can also include, but not necessarily, one or moreprogrammable relay ports 218 a-c. Programmable relay ports 218 can beused by controller 116 to control window shades, projection screens,lifts, power controllers, and other contact-closure actuated equipment.Controller 116 can include, as programmable relay port 218, a“Versiport” relay port that is manufactured by Crestron ElectronicsInc., of Rockleigh, N.J. The Versiport relay port can be managed by aDIN-108 module (also manufactured by Crestron Electronics Inc.), whichis a DIN rail-mounted automation control module that provides eightVersiport I/O ports for interfacing with a wide range of third-partydevices and systems. Each “Versiport” can be configured via software tofunction as a digital or analog sensing input, or as a digital triggeroutput. When configured as a digital input, the Versiport can sense acontact closure or logic level signal from devices such as motiondetectors, partition sensors, alarm panels, 12V triggers, and all typesof switches and relays. When configured as an analog input, theVersiport can sense changes in a resistance or DC voltage level, workingwith everything from temperature and light sensors to water level metersto volume control potentiometers. When operating as a digital output,the Versiport provides a logic level closure signal to trigger controland alarm inputs on a variety of external devices.

Thus, one or more “Versiport” programmable relay ports 218 can enablethe integration of occupancy sensors, power sensors, door switches, orother devices by providing a dry contact closure, low-voltage logic, or0-10 Volt DC signal.

By leveraging remote access of controller 116, a user can control one ormore of the controllable devices and/or environment settings in afacility (home, place of business or manufacture, or enterpriselocation) from substantially anywhere in the world using PED 104. Suchcontrol can be accomplished by a dynamic domain name system (DNS)service. Those of skill in the art can appreciate that DNS is ahierarchical distributed naming system used for computers, services, orany resource that is connected to the internet or a private network.According to further aspects of the embodiments, controller 116 can beconfigured to utilize dynamic host communication protocol (DHCP)communications that include a hostname prefixed by a model number. Amore detailed discussion of the internal operation of controller 116 isnot needed to understand the various aspects of the embodimentsdescribed herein, and therefore is beyond the scope of discussionherein. However, such detailed discussion can be found in theaforementioned Applicants' co-pending U.S. Non-Provisional PatentApplication, as referenced above.

According to aspects of the embodiments, controller 116 hosts a projectfile, such as a Crestron Core 3 project file, also referred to as “SmartGraphics [Project],” which is intended to be used by one or more mobiledevices (such as PED 104) with a control application (App) such as aCrestron App (located on PED 104). As described above, one or moreproject files can be created during the installation of control network100. The Crestron App is designed to receive and render the SmartGraphics project file. The Crestron App is responsible for communicatingtaps and feedback to the user. Additionally, Smart object App can becreated for use with a local Crestron Mobile Pro Project as well as withforeign AV processors. The Crestron Mobile Pro project can contain justa Core 3 Smart Object and nothing else. The Smart Graphics Project file,located on controller 116, is a collection of items that are meaningfulin some way to a control system program, such as Crestron App. Thiscollection of items can include things like “buttons,” “sliders,” or“text” (among other graphical representations). According to furtheraspects of the embodiments, Smart graphics project file can include“smart object” file, which can be a predefined conglomeration of otherobjects (buttons, slides, among others). For example, a lighting smartobject file can comprise a slider to report/set a light level, and a fewbuttons to raise/lower and turn on/off the lights. According to furtheraspects of the embodiments, in control network 100, smart object filetalks directly to a Pyng-HUB, such as controller 116. As such, smartobject files can be used in or by any smart graphics project file, andthey'll communicate with control network 100 and Crestron App, even ifthe project (i.e., the program currently being executed) is intended tocontrol an external AV processor.

Referring back to FIG. 1, control network 100 further comprisescommunication network 102 that provides access with and between devicesof control network 100 according to aspects of the embodiments.Communication network 102 can be a PAN, LAN, metropolitan area network,WAN, an alternate network configuration, or some other combination ofnetwork types and/or topologies.

According to an aspect of the embodiments, communication network 102 canemploy both wired and wireless communication protocols. For example, thecontrollable devices can form communication network 102 with gatewaydevice 114 (operating in a wireless manner) by communicating over ashort range communication protocol such as Crestron infiNET EX wirelessprotocol (e.g., the IEEE 802.15.4 wireless protocol). Or, according to adifferent aspect of the embodiments, gateway device 114, operating in awired manner, can form a LAN with PED 104 communicating via Ethernetprotocols using a wire-based Ethernet capability (it can also do so in awireless manner). According to a further aspect of the embodiments,controller 116 or PED 104 can connect via a WAN such as the world wideweb to access data stored on a remote server (not shown in FIG. 1).

According to further aspects of the embodiments, communication network102 can be a public switched telephone network (PSTN). Alternatively,communication network 102 can further include a cable telephony network,an internet protocol (IP) telephony network, a wireless network, ahybrid cable/PSTN network, a hybrid IP/PSTN network, a hybridwireless/PSTN network, or any other suitable communication network 102or combination of communication networks. In addition, other networkembodiments can be deployed with many variations in the number and typeof devices, communication networks, the communication protocols, systemtopologies, and myriad other details without departing from the spiritand scope of the aspects of the embodiments.

Referring now to FIG. 3, control network 100 can include one or moregateway devices 114. According to a further aspect of the embodiments,controller 116 further comprises a built-in gateway 114. According tostill further aspects, control network 100 can comprise an externalgateway 114, such as a CEN-RFGW-EX gateway, available from CrestronElectronics, Inc.

According to aspects of the embodiments, gateway 114 of control network100 provides network devices with an entrance to communication network102 through controller 116 and can include software and/or hardwarecomponents to manage traffic entering and exiting communication network102 and conversion between the communication protocols used by thenetwork devices and communication network 102.

Gateway 114 can be configured to operate in both a wired a wirelessmanner and act as the network coordinator, and can further managenetwork configurations. Additionally, gateway 114 can be configured tocommunicate with controller 116 via wired I/O interface 210, such as anEthernet interface (IEEE 802.3). One such gateway 114 according to anaspect of the embodiments is the CEN-RFGW-EX wireless gatewaymanufactured by Crestron Electronics, Inc., and which is a two-way radiofrequency (RF) gateway\transceiver designed to enable communications andmanagement for a complete infiNET EX wireless network of dimmers,keypads, remote control devices (RCDs), among other types of devices.The CEN-RFGW-EX wireless gateway links the infiNET EX network to aCrestron control system via a wired connection such as Ethernet orCresnet. infiNET EX dimmers, switches, keypads, thermostats, and otherdevices, can be linked to controller 116 via a single CEN-RFGW-EXgateway 114. Additional gateways 114 can be installed to support moredevices. Wireless expanders (not shown in FIG. 1) can be added whereverneeded to extend control network 100 by filling in gaps between devices.That is, according to aspects of the embodiments, expanders canreinforce the network when operating in accordance with mesh networksprinciples.

FIG. 3 illustrates a block diagram of gateway 114 according to an aspectof the embodiments. Gateway 114 can include one or more transceivers212, 214, and 216, which can provide connectivity for gateway 114 whenacting in a wireless manner. In addition to the transceivers 212, 214,216, gateway 114 can further include a NWI that comprises one or morenetwork interface cards (NICs), or network controllers (NWCs). Incertain embodiments, the network interface can include LR-WPANtransceiver 212, which can provide capabilities to network with, forexample, a Bluetooth® network, NFC network, or a ZigBee/Infinet network,among others. As can be appreciated by those of skill in the art, thenetworks accessed by LR-WPAN transceiver 212 can, but do notnecessarily, represent low power, low bandwidth, or close range wirelessconnections, such as that used by second antenna 117. LR-WPANtransceiver 212 can permit one electronic device to connect to anotherlocal electronic device via an ad-hoc or peer-to-peer connection.

Gateway 114 can further include wired I/O interface 210, which canrepresent an interface to a wired Ethernet-based network. Gateway 114includes WLAN transceiver 214, which can access an IEEE 802.11x wirelessnetwork. The range of the WLAN interface (WLAN transceiver 214) cangenerally exceed the range available via the PAN interface.Additionally, in many cases, a connection between two electronic devicesvia the LAN interface can involve communication through a network routeror other intermediary devices. As discussed above, gateway 114 furthercomprises LR-WPAN transceiver 212 that can access an IEEE 802.15.4 (e.g.ZigBee/InfiNet) network. As those of skill in the art can appreciate,the networks described by IEEE 802.15.4 are mesh-type networks, andoperate with a central router/coordinator; in control network 100, thefunction of such central coordination is performed by one or morecontroller 116 and/or gateway 114, according to aspects of theembodiments.

In a wired configuration, wired I/O interface 210 can be a LANpower-over-Ethernet (PoE) interface that can be fashioned using an8-wire RJ-45 female connection with two LED indicators. According to afurther aspect of the embodiments, a another type of NWI can be Cresnetinterface 302 b, which is a 4-pin 3.5 millimeter (mm) detachableterminal block providing an interface for Cresnet proprietarycommunications on a LAN that includes power-over-Ethernet (PoE). The PoEinterface can be configured for receiving both an electric power signaland an information signal from a control network. For example, Cresnetinterface 302 b can be connected through category 5 cable (CAT 5) to aLAN that contains a power supply, multiple control points, and signalgenerators. Through Crestnet interface/LAN PoE interface 302 b, gateway114 can interface with control network 100. For example, gateway 114(which can be both wired and wireless) can communicate with controller116, such as a PRO3 available from Crestron Electronics, Inc.

Gateway 114 comprises one or more connectors, indicators and interfacebuttons, as well as an antenna connection for the supplied antenna.Gateway further comprises LED indicators, such as power on/off LED 304,network activity indicator LED 306, and activity indicator LED 308.Power on/off LED 304 is an indicator that shows that operating power isbeing supplied to gateway 114 whether from the Cresnet network or a PoEconnection. Network LED indicator 306 shows that communication with theCresnet system is occurring. Activity indicator LED 308 shows thatwireless communications are occurring, such as those that involve theelements of the wireless PAN.

Gateway 114 further comprises acquire button 310 and setup button 312.Acquire button 310 and setup button 312 can be recessed push buttonseach with an indicator LED. Acquire button 310 can be employed toconfigure communication with the PAN and setup button 312 can beemployed to configure communication with control network 100.

Gateway 114 can be placed in the “Acquire” mode via acquire button 310or a different means, such as the pushing of certain buttons in acertain order. The associated LED can indicate that gateway 114 is inthe “Acquire” mode. Once gateway 114 has been placed in the “Acquire”mode, the joining device can be brought into range and can be placed inthe “Acquire” mode to be acquired by gateway 114 through a certainsequence. Such sequence involves the pushing of buttons in a certain,specific order, a detailed discussion of which has been omitted infulfilment of the dual purposes of clarity and brevity. By pushingacquire button 310 a second time (within a predetermined time period),gateway 114 can exit the “Acquire” mode as indicated by theLED-illuminated acquire button 310.

As discussed above, control network 100 can further comprise PED 104.PED 104 can be a smart phone, tablet, remote control, personal digitalassistant (PDA), or any other electronic device configured forpresenting a user interface, such as a graphical user interface (GUI)and receiving user inputs, such as in the form of selections from agraphic user interface.

FIG. 4 illustrates a block diagram of a personal electronic device 104for use with control system 100 according to aspects of the embodiment.PED 104 can include at least one central processing unit (CPU) 402. Forexample, CPU 402 can represent one or more microprocessors, and themicroprocessors can be “general purpose” microprocessors, a combinationof general and special purpose microprocessors, or ASICs. Additionally,or alternatively, CPU 402 can include one or more reduced instructionset (RISC), advanced RISC machine (ARM), or complex instruction set(CISC) processors, video processors, or related chip sets. CPU 402 canprovide processing capability to execute an operating system (OS), runvarious applications, and/or provide processing for one or more of thetechniques described herein. Applications that can run on PED 104 caninclude, for example, software for managing and playing AV content,software for managing a calendar, software for controlling telephonecapabilities, software for controlling other electronic devices via acontrol network as noted above, as well as software for controllingvarious other functions and interconnected devices.

PED 104 further comprises main memory 414, which can be communicablycoupled to CPU 402, and which may store data and executable code. Mainmemory 414 can represent volatile memory such as RAM, but can alsoinclude nonvolatile memory, such as ROM or flash memory. In buffering orcaching data related to operations of CPU 402, main memory 414 can storedata associated with applications running on PED 104.

PED 104 can also include nonvolatile storage 412. Nonvolatile storage412 can represent any suitable nonvolatile storage medium, such as a HDDor nonvolatile memory, such as flash memory. Being well-suited tolong-term storage, nonvolatile storage 412 may store data files such asmedia, software and preference information. Nonvolatile storage 412 canbe removable and interchangeable, thereby allowing portability of storedfiles such as project files created during programming of controlnetwork 100. Those of skill in the art can appreciate that dataassociated with controlling certain other electronic devices, such as aproject file for a control application, can be saved in nonvolatilestorage 412.

Display 410 can display images and data for PED 104. As those of skillin the art can appreciate, display 410 is optional. If included in PED104, however, display 410 can use any type of display technology, suchas, but not limited to, a liquid crystal display (LCD), a light emittingdiode (LED) based display, an organic light emitting diode (OLED) baseddisplay, a cathode ray tube (CRT) display, or an analog or digitaltelevision, among other types. According to other aspects of theembodiments, display 410 can function as a touch screen display throughwhich a user can interact with PED 104.

PED 104 can further include user interface 408. User interface 408 caninclude indicator lights and user input structures, but can also includea GUI on display 410. As those of skill in the art can appreciate, userinterface 408 can operate via CPU 402, using memory from main memory 414and long-term storage in nonvolatile storage 412, among using othertypes of memory (such as an HDD, not shown in FIG. 4). According toaspects of the embodiments, if display 410 is not included in PED 104,indicator lights, sound devices, buttons, and other various input/output(I/O) devices can allow a user to interface with PED 104. If, however,display 410 is included in PED 104 and uses a GUI, user interface 408can provide interaction with interface elements on display 410 viacertain user input structures, user input peripherals such as a keyboardor mouse, or a touch sensitive implementation of display 410.

As can be appreciated by those of skill in the art, one or moreapplications can be opened and accessible to a user via user interface408 and displayed on display 410 of PED 104. One or more of the openedapplications can be run on CPU 402 in conjunction with main memory 414,nonvolatile storage 412, display 410, and user interface 408.Instructions stored in main memory 414, nonvolatile storage 412, or CPU402 (CPU 402 can have its own internal storage, of many differenttypes), of PED 104 can enable a user to install control network 100. Assuch, those of skill in the art can appreciate that the instructions forcarrying out such techniques on PED 104 can represent a standaloneapplication, a function of the OS on PED 104, or a function of thehardware of CPU 402, main memory 414, nonvolatile storage 412, or otherhardware of PED 104.

One such application that can be opened and accessible to the user is aconfiguration application for installing control network 100 accordingto an aspect of the embodiments. The configuration application can bedownloaded from an application marketplace such as from the Google Playapplication marketplace or the Apple iTunes® application marketplace,among other market places available through the internet, or othernetworks.

As briefly described above, the project file provides the instructionsallowing the control application to communicate with the target controlnetwork (control network 100, according to aspects of the embodiments).Further, the project file comprises the menu pages of the controlapplication corresponding to the locations of controllable devices. Forexample, the control application can display one or more menu pagesidentified by page identities for controlling the one or morecontrollable devices on control network 100 according to the projectfile. The menu pages comprise selectable elements corresponding tocontrol functions as defined in the project file.

The configuration application displays a series of menu pages comprisingselectable elements and graphical elements. As will be described ingreater detail below, the one or more of the selectable elements cancorrespond to initialization functions of the configuration application.PED 104 can transmit signals to control network 100 according to theinitialization functions selected by the user. Additionally, controlnetwork 100 can communicate with PED 104, such as by providing feedbacksignals to PED 104. According to an aspect of the embodiments, PED 104can communicate with controller 116 running a logic engine viacommunication network 102. Gateway 114, according to further aspects ofthe embodiments, can be used to relay commands and return statusinformation to and from sensors 108 and from the various controllabledevices 110, 112, 118, 120, 122, 124, 126, 128, and 130

According to various aspects of the embodiments, PED 104 can includelocation sensing circuitry 406. Location sensing circuitry 406 cancomprise global positioning system (GPS) circuitry, but can alsorepresent one or more algorithms and databases, stored in nonvolatilestorage 412 or main memory 414 and executed by CPU 402, which may beused to infer the location of PED 104 based on various observed factors.For example, location sensing circuitry 406 can represent an algorithmand database used to approximate geographic location based on thedetection of local 802.11x (Wi-Fi) networks or nearby cellular phonetowers.

PED 104 can also include wired input/output (I/O) interface 210 for awired interconnection between a first electronic device and a secondelectronic device. Wired I/O interface 210 can represent, for example, auniversal serial bus (USB) port, an IEEE 1394 port, or a FireWire® port.However, wired I/O interface 210 can also represent a proprietaryconnection. Additionally, wired I/O interface 210 interface can permit aconnection to user input peripheral devices, such as a keyboard or amouse. In addition to wired input/output (I/O) interface 210, PED 104further comprises infrared (IR) interface 430 that can enable PED 104 toreceive and/or transmit signals with infrared light. By way of example,IR interface 430 can comply with an infrared IRDA specification for datatransmission.

One or more network interfaces 208 can also be provided in PED 104. Oneor more of such network interfaces 208 can provide additionalconnectivity for PED 104. Network interfaces 208 can represent, forexample, one or more network interface cards (NIC) or a networkcontroller. In certain embodiments, the network interface 208 caninclude LR-WPAN transceiver 212. LR-WPAN transceiver 212 can providecapabilities to network with, for example, a Bluetooth® network, an NFCnetwork, or a ZigBee/CresNet network. As should be appreciated, thenetworks accessed by LR-WPAN transceiver 212 can, but do notnecessarily, represent low-power, low-bandwidth, or close range wirelessconnections. However, as those of skill in the art can appreciate, theconnection in a PAN can be disrupted if the separation between the twoelectronic devices exceeds the operational range capability of LR-WPANtransceiver 212. LR-WPAN transceiver 212 can permit one electronicdevice to connect to another local electronic device via an ad-hoc, orpeer-to-peer connection, such as that defined by the wireless PANprotocol IEEE 802.15.n, communications network 102.

LR-WPAN transceiver 212 can also incorporate IEEE 802.15.4 (e.g. ZigBee)network, or an ultra-wideband network. As those of skill in the art canappreciate, the networks described by IEEE 802.15.4 are mesh-typenetworks, and operate with a central router/coordinator; in controlnetwork 100, the function of such central coordination is performed byeither or both of controller 116 and/or gateway 114, according toaspects of the embodiments.

Network interface 208 can also include WLAN transceiver 214. WLANtransceiver 214 can represent an interface to a wireless LAN, such as anIEEE 802.11x wireless network (Wi-Fi). The wireless operating rangecapability of LAN interface 426 can generally exceed the wirelessoperating range capability available via LR-WPAN transceiver 212.Additionally, in many cases, a connection between two electronic devicesvia WLAN transceiver 214 can involve communication through a networkrouter or other intermediary devices. In PED 104 WLAN transceiver 214interfaces with first antenna 115, WLAN transceiver 212 interfaces withsecond antenna 117, and cellular transceiver 216 interfaces with thirdantenna 119 according to aspects of the embodiments. Communicationsnetwork 134 is a wired or wireless LAN, such as that defined by IEEE802.11.n (Wi-Fi), or 802.3 (Ethernet).

According to further aspects of the embodiments, network interfaces 208of PED 104 can further include the capability to connect directly to aWWAN via cellular transceiver 216, and third antenna 119 according toaspects of the embodiments. Cellular transceiver 216 can permit aconnection to a cellular data network, such as an EDGE network, oranother 3G/4G network, among others. When connected via cellulartransceiver 216, PED 104 can remain connected to the internet and, insome embodiments, to other electronic devices, despite changes inlocation that might otherwise disrupt connectivity via LR-WPANtransceiver 212, or WLAN transceiver 214. As will be discussed ingreater detail below, wired I/O interface 210 and network interfaces 208can represent both low- and high-bandwidth communication channels fortransferring user data using the simplified data transfer techniquesdiscussed herein.

PED 104 can also include near field communication (NFC) interface 416.NFC interface 416 can allow for extremely close range communications atrelatively low data rates (e.g., about 464 kilo-bits/second (kb/s)), andcan comply with such standards as International Standards Organization(ISO) 18092 or ISO 21521, or it can allow for close range communicationsat relatively high data rates (e.g., about 560 mega-bits/second (Mb/s)),and can comply with the TransferJet® protocol. NFC interface 416 canhave a range of between about 2 to about 4 centimeters (cm) (or betweenabout 0.78″ to about 1.57″). The close range communication with NFCinterface 416 can take place via magnetic field induction, allowing NFCinterface 416 to communicate with other NFC interfaces, or to retrieveinformation from tags having radio frequency identification (RFID)circuitry. As discussed in greater detail below, NFC interface 416 canprovide a manner of initiating or facilitating a transfer of user datafrom one electronic device to another electronic device.

PED 104 can also include camera 420. With camera 420, PED 104 can obtaindigital images or videos. In combination with optical characterrecognition (OCR) software, barcode-reading software, ormatrix-code-reading software running on PED 104, camera 420 can be usedto input data from printed materials having text or barcode information.Such data can include information indicating how to control anotherdevice from a matrix barcode that can be printed on the other device, asdescribed in greater detail below.

According to further aspects of the embodiments, PED 104 can alsoinclude one or more accelerometers 418 that can sense the movement ororientation of PED 104. Accelerometers 418 can provide input or feedbackregarding the position of PED 104 to certain applications running on CPU402. According to further aspects of the embodiments, accelerometer 418can be provided by devices made using microelectromechanical system(MEMS) technology. MEMS devices, which can be defined as die-levelcomponents of first-level packaging, can include pressure sensors,accelerometers, gyroscopes, microphones, digital mirror displays,microfluidic devices, among other devices.

According to aspects of the embodiments, control network 100 can beconfigured to be installed by untrained users executing a configurationapplication on PED 104. According to further aspects of the embodiments,the control system and associated configuration application are referredto as Pyng, which are software programs created and manufactured byCrestron Electronics, Inc., of Rockleigh, N.J.

One such application that can be opened and accessible to the user is aconfiguration application for installing control network 100 accordingto an aspect of the embodiments. The configuration application can bedownloaded from an application marketplace such as from the Google Playapplication marketplace, or the Apple iTunes® application marketplace,among other application market places available through the internet, orother networks. A detailed discussion of the configuration applicationis both not needed to appreciate the various aspects of the embodiments,and can be found in the co-pending U.S. Non-provisional PatentApplication referenced above; as such, a detailed discussion has beenomitted in fulfillment of the dual purposes of clarity and brevity.

Attention is now directed towards FIG. 5, which illustrates wall mountkeypad (keypad) 106 that can be used in control network 100 as part ofan acoustic sensory network (ASN) according to aspects of theembodiments. Keypad 106 includes display/touch panel 502 (an interactivedisplay that can be a liquid crystal display (LCD) or light emittingdiode display (LED), or combination thereof), microphone(s) 504,optional audio processing board 505 (which comprises pre-amplifier 506,analog-to-digital converter (ADC) 508, and 60 Hertz (Hz) notch filteraccording to an aspect of the embodiments), processor 512, IEEE 811.15.4LR-WPAN transceiver (transceiver) 212, WLAN transceiver 214, cellulartransceiver 216 (and their respective antennas, 115, 117, and 119),internal bus 516, antenna 117, LAN/Ethernet connector 518, and voicerecognition (VR) system-on-a-chip (SoC) circuit (VR SoC circuit) 520. Asthose of skill in the art can appreciate, other components have beenomitted from FIG. 5 in fulfillment of the dual purposes of clarity andbrevity, as they would not aid in understanding the various aspects ofthe embodiments. According to further aspects of the embodiments, thedevices, software, algorithms, and other components of the ASN aredescribed in reference to keypad 106 and controller 116, but can bedistributed in one or more of any of the devices of network 100, e.g.,gateway 114. In addition, one or more of the components of the ASN canbe separated from keypad 106, such as microphones 504, audio processingboard 505, and VR SoC circuit 520, according to aspects of theembodiments. For example, either or both of audio processing board 505(and its components) or VR SoC circuit 520 can be included in controller116 or gateway 114. However, in fulfillment of the dual purposes ofclarity and brevity, and according to aspects of the embodiments, thefollowing description of the devices, software, algorithms, and othercomponents of the ASN shall be made in reference to keypad 106 andcontroller 116.

The ASN according to aspects of the embodiments includes audioprocessing components to interpret spoken words as commands to controlthe controllable devices, including those of lights and related devices,in such a manner as to overcome the problems of the prior art aspreviously described. That is, the ASN can include one or moremicrophones 504 a,b, VR SoC circuit 520, or, in the alternative,optional audio processing board 505, to capture, process, and implementaudible commands. As those of skill in the art can appreciate, VR SoCcircuit 520 contains the necessary components to convert the audiosignals received by each mic 504 a,b, into digital form, providefiltering before and/or after conversion to digital form, performadditional processing (as described in greater detail below), and can,according to aspects of the embodiments, include software to identifythe word (or words) that were spoken to produce the digital words. Suchprocessing can be referred to as acoustic finger printing, or voicerecognition. Further, VR SoC circuit 520 can also provide a time stampto the received audio signal, which can be further used in processing ina manner to be described below, or the time stamp can be provided byother circuitry, such as, for example, controller 116. Optionally,substantially similar processing can occur in audio processing board505; however, in fulfillment of the dual purposes of clarity andbrevity, discussion shall only be made in regard to VR SoC circuit 520.

According to still further aspects of the embodiments, either or both ofVR SoC 520 and audio processing board 505 can be implemented in one ormore of the dimmers, wall mounted touch panels, remote control devices,and the like, all of which can be considered to be part of controlnetwork 100 and the ASN according to aspects of the embodiments.

In cases where it is implemented, audio processing board 505 accepts asan input the analog audible signal (audible signal) received from eachof microphones 504 a,b, applies a pre-amplification to the signal toscale it, then converts the same to a digital audible signal using ADC508. The “raw” output of ADC 508 can then be filtered by notch filter510 to remove as much 60 Hz “hum” as possible, and the filtered digitalaudible signal (digital audible signal) can then be sent to processor512 for further processing.

Attention is also directed to FIG. 10, which illustrates several audioprocessing blocks that can occur within either or both of audioprocessing board 505 and VR SoC circuit 520 according to aspects of theembodiments. In fulfillment of the dual purposes of clarity and brevity,however, reference will be made as to the processing blocks as occurringwithin VR SoC circuit 520, although that need not necessarily be thecase; one or more of the processing blocks shown is within VR SoCcircuit 520 can also be implemented in one or more separate devices,such as ASICs, or even the processors of keypad 106, controller 116, andkeypad 104, among other devices of network 100.

Referring now to FIGS. 5 and 10, microphones 504 a,b receive audiocommands spoken by a user or occupant of the home or enterpriselocation, along with other extraneous audio signals, the latter of whichcan be collectively referred to as audio noise; thus, the combinedanalog audio signal consists of an audio command and audio noise, and isrepresented as the analog audio signal from microphone 504 a, or AASa,and similarly from mic 504 b, AASb. Within VR SoC circuit 520, both ofthe analog microphone output signals encounter analog processing circuit1002 a,b respectively. Analog processing circuit can include, amongother circuitry, 60 Hz notch filters, one or more of a low pass filter,high pass filter and a bandpass filter, pre- and post-amplifiers, and ananalog-to-digital converter (ADC). The output of analog processingcircuits 1002 a,b can be referred to as digital audio signal “a” and“b,” respectively, DASa, DASb. Although some noise has been removed,DASa,b both still contain ambient, background noise that can include oneor more noise signals generated by fans, motors, audio sources, andnon-command words, among others.

According to further aspects of the embodiments, upon conversion from ananalog to digital form, each of DASa,b can have a time-date stampapplied to it. According to aspects of the embodiments, the applicationof a time-date stamp can be applied to the received digital audio signalby time-date stamp generator 1004. As those of skill in the art canappreciate, any processing steps that occur at processor 512 of keypad106 (or any other similarly situated control or controllable device ofcontrol network 100) can also occur in one or both of gateway 114 andcontroller 116. The time-date stamp applied by time-date stamp generator1004 can be used one or more different ways. For example, because eachmicrophone's output can be time-stamped, it can be determined whichmicrophone was closest to the source of the audio command (onceprocessing occurs to decipher the command, discussed below). Further,because in subsequent processing the two microphones' outputs arecombined, a single average time stamp value can be generated and appliedto the combined audio command output from the respective keypad 106;this average time stamp can then be used and compared to other timestamps generated by other keypads 106 to further ascertain which keypadfirst received the audio command.

There are several mechanisms through which time stamps can be generatedand applied according to aspects of the embodiments. As those of skillin the art can appreciate, a certain degree of accuracy is required ingenerating the time stamp in order to make the time stamp useful indetermining the order of arrival of audio signals. The speed of sound,Vs, is about 1126 feet-per-second (fps) at sea level, under certainpredefined conditions. The speed varies with temperature, humidity, andaltitude, as those of skill in the art can appreciate, but the generallyaccepted “norm” value of Vs of 1126 fps can be used for the purposes ofthis discussion. Using this value yields a travel time of about 888.1microseconds-per-foot (μs/ft). Most clock speeds of the processors andother digital circuitry will operate at much higher frequencies than1100 Hz; however, it is not the absolute clock frequency that isimportant (though below a certain value, as those of skill in the artcan appreciate, time stamping would not be effective), but that theclock speeds be substantially identical at each keypad 106, and besubstantially in synchronization with each other, at least by severalorders of magnitude in regard to the expected differences in timebetween when a first keypad marks the audio sound and a second keypadmarks the same audio sound. According to aspects of the embodiments,there are several network communication protocols that can be used togenerate time stamps of sufficient accuracy; one such system usesZigBee, as described in papers entitled “Time Synchronization for ZigBeeNetworks,” Cox, D. et al., IEEE 0-7803-8808, September 2005, and“Non-invasive Time Synchronization for ZigBee Wireless Sensor Networks,”Ferrari, P., et al., IEEE 978-1-4244-2275, March, 2008, the entirecontents of both of which are incorporated herein by reference.Time-date stamp generator 1004 uses either or both the protocolsdescribed above, among others not mentioned, and generates the time-datestamp that is then added to digital word represented the amplitudeoutput from each respective microphone; in this manner, the digital wordnow resembles a packet of data familiar to those of skill in the art ofdigital data transmission using protocols such as the Open SourceInitiative (OSI) model and internet protocols, among others.

According to still further aspects of the embodiments, application ofthe time-date stamp can occur in one or both of controller 116 orgateway 114 after the audible command has been received from each of thekeypads, assigned an identifier header (or footer), and transmittedfollowing digitization. Thus, the digitized audible commands can be sentin real time to controller 116 or gateway 114. Considering thesubstantially instantaneous rate of communication from each keypad tothe controller 116 (for purposes of this discussion, the use ofcontroller 116 alone will be considered by means of a non-limitingexample), such delay in time-date stamping can be negligible. Accordingto further aspects of the embodiments, test communications can be sentto each keypad in order to ascertain a trip delay, and such delay timecan be subtracted from each received audible command digital word afterit has been received and time-date stamped, and prior to processing, asdescribed below in regard to FIG. 8, and method 800.

Following the application of the time-date stamp by time-date stampgenerator 1004, acoustic echo cancellation (AEC) algorithms can beapplied through use of AEC processors 1006 a,b to the respectivedigitals signals, DASa,b. The implementation and use of AEC processingis known to those of skill in the art, and therefore, in fulfillment ofthe dual purposes of clarity and brevity, a detailed discussion thereofneed not be repeated herein. However, one known goal of use of AEC is toreduce extraneous media sounds from the digital audio signals. As thoseof skill in the art can appreciate, AEC can use an audio signal as areference, and then cancels this reference signal from the microphoneinput. The reference signal can be provided to each AEC circuit from oneor both of controller 116 and gateway 114. Such reference signal can bethe audio portion of any video that might be playing in each respectiveroom of the corresponding keypad 106, or audio signal that it beingprovided to amplifiers and speakers in each corresponding room. The AECcircuit uses a Least Mean Square (LMS) algorithm to create an adaptivefilter used to eliminate the reference and acoustic echoes associatewith it. In addition, non-linear adaptive filtering can also be used tofurther suppress this signal. According to aspects of the embodiments,this processing can occur in keypad 106, and the reference signal willthen be provided to each keypad 106 from the media system to therespective keypad 106 either through the IEEE 802.15.4 radio connection(LR-WPAN transceiver 212 and second antenna 117), IEEE 802.11 radioconnection (WLAN transceiver 214 and first antenna 115), cellulartransceiver 216 (and third antenna 119), or via the IEEE 802.3 LANconnection (wired I/O interface 210). According to further aspects ofthe embodiments, AEC blocks 1006 a,b can also include reverb reductionand/or active noise cancellation, the operation of which are known tothose of skill in the art.

Following AEC in AEC blocks 1006 a,b, the digital audio signal can befurther processed and/or enhanced according to several further aspectsof the embodiments. Each DAS from the respective microphones 504 a,b ina first keypad 104 a can have direction of arrival (DOA) processingperformed in conjunction with directionally adapted beamforming (DABF);this processing can occur in DOA block 1008, which, as shown in FIG. 10,comprises at least two inputs, the respective DASs from each microphone504 a,b in first keypad 104 a. The output of DOA block 1008 is anotherdigital packet of data that includes the DOA processed digital audiosignals and a relative angle that each microphone 504 a,b received itsanalog audio signal. The DABF block 1010 receives that output from DOAblock 1008 and uses the directional information (the relative angle) andfurther reduces the noise in the portion of the digital packet thatrepresents the digitized and further processed audio signals. In thismanner, the output of VR SoC circuit 520 has now substantially minimizedor reduced the noise that accompanied the spoken command, so that thesignal-to-noise ratio (SNR) has been improved of the spoken audiocommand.

A detailed discussion of the processing that occurs in either or both ofDOA block 1008 and DABF block 1010 is not necessary to the understandingof the aspects of the embodiments; however, such processing is describedin the following documents, the entire contents of each of which areincorporated herein in their entirety. Such documents include “A New DOAEstimation Method Using a Circular Microphone Array,” Karbasi, A., etal., School of Comp. and Commun. Sciences, Ecole Polytechnique Fed'eralede Lausanne CH-1015 Lausanne, Switzerland, and Common Platform SoftwareResearch Labs., NEC Corporation Kawasaki 211-8666, Japan, 2007;“Direction of Arrival Estimation Using the Parameterized SpatialCorrelation Matrix,” Dmochowski, J., et al., IEEE Transactions On Audio,Speech, and Language Processing, Vol. 15, No. 4, May 2007; and“Microphone Arrays: A Tutorial,” McCowan, I., derived from “RobustSpeech Recognition using Microphone Arrays,” McCowan, I., PhD Thesis,Queensland University of Technology, Australia, 2001.

In addition, the following websites provide further information as toimplementation of direction of arrival and directionally adaptivebeamforming circuitry and processing:https://www.xmos.com/support/boards?product=35564, andhttp://www.vocal.com/voice/, both of which were current and available asof the date of filing of this U.S. Non-provisional Patent Application,and the entire contents of each of which are incorporated herein intheir entirety.

According to aspects of the embodiments, DOA and DABF processing can beimplemented at each keypad 106 in regard to the one or more microphones504 in the respective keypad 106, or, DOA and DABF processing can occurat a central location, such as in controller 116 and CPU 202 (or ingateway 114, among other “central locations”). Or, according to stillfurther aspects of the embodiments, DOA processing can occur at eachkeypad, and DABF processing can occur at the central location such ascontroller 116 and CPU 202. Further, while it has been discussed anddescribed that keypad 106 can have two microphones 504, according tofurther aspects of the embodiments, keypads 106 can have one, three, oreven more microphones 605. Further still, one or more such microphones504 can be stand alone units, i.e., one or more or a plurality of justmicrophones can be installed in one or more of the rooms/hallways of thehome or enterprise location without keypad 106 in order to provide alarger area to listen for commands, and obtain more detailed spatialinformation about the location of the source of the audible command, aswell as increasing the likelihood of accurately determining the room towhich the command is being directed towards.

Following the processes described above, the digital audible signal canbe processed by a speech recognition algorithm in order to attempt todiscern the command that is contained in the digital audible signal.Such processing can be performed in each keypad 106. According tofurther aspects of the embodiments, however, such processing shall bediscussed from the perspective of occurring in controller 116, withinCPU 202, in fulfillment of the dual purposes of clarity and brevity.However, those of skill in the art can appreciate that such any of thisprocessing, as well as additional processing described and discussedabove and below, can be distributed throughout a network such as network100, and could occur, for example, in one or more of gateway 114.

For example, one such command could be “lights off,” as the person isleaving a bathroom. In a first scenario, it will be presumed that noextraneous noise exists, and that the command can only be heard by thekeypad/processor in the room to which it is directed. Then, using aspeech recognition algorithm in the respective keypad 106, processor 512could relatively easily act on the command, and turn off the lights inthe bathroom. Such “turning off” command can be acted upon even if thesame command was received by an adjoining bedroom because of therelatively high percentage of certainty of the true nature of thecommand contained in the digital audible signal. As those of skill inthe art can appreciate, speech recognition capabilities can be locatedthroughout a residential or commercial facility to facilitate control ofdevices in the residence/office/enterprise location. However, as hasbeen discussed above, extraneous noise does exist and it cannot be saidwith any degree of certainty that processor 512 of keypad 106 in thebathroom would act on such command, or that the lights of the bedroomnext door would not also be turned off, much to the surprise of theoccupant therein.

Therefore, according to further aspects of the embodiments, furtherprocessing of the received audio command can also determine theamplitude of the received digital audible signal at each respectivekeypad 106; such amplitude can be used by CPU 202 in controller 116 (oranother processor, such as processor 512, though discussion will bedirected to such processing occurring within CPU 202 from hereon in), tocompare the amplitude of a plurality of received digital audible signalsDAS_(N). Relative amplitude between all of the received signals can beused to assist in determining which of the received signals was receivedfirst, as amplitude falls off with distance, as time increases as well.Therefore, if one of the received audio signals has a larger amplitudethan the other, then the microphone associated with the (digital)audible signal with the larger amplitude can be considered to be thedevice to which the command is directed towards, or at least it can beconsidered as a factor to take into account. FIGS. 6 and 7, which aredescribed in greater detail below, illustrate the principles ofoperation of the time-date stamp and amplitude determination.

According to further aspects of the embodiments, either or both ofadditional processing and additional circuitry can be used that reducesthe likelihood of misinterpreting the received digital audio signal. Thefirst item to be considered is the use of two microphones 504 a,b ineach keypad 106, as shown in FIG. 5. The outputs of mics 504 a,b areboth directed to VR SoC circuit 520, or audio processing board 505; asdiscussed above, only use of the former will be described herein infulfillment of the dual purposes of clarity and brevity. When two (ormore) mics 504 a,b are used, the effects of noise on the intended audiosignal can be reduced. Some sources of noise can include other peoplespeaking, fans in bedrooms or bathrooms, ceiling speakers, televisions,cell-phones, and the like.

Those of skill in the art can appreciate that a detailed discussion ofthe technology and processing required to implement noise reduction withthe use of two or more mics 504 is not needed to understand the aspectsof the embodiments. Nonetheless, the following is provided forcompleteness. Regardless of how far away the source of the audio signal,i.e., the voice command, one signal from a respective mic 504 will bestronger than the other. The two sound waves can be compared followingfiltering, digitization, and other processing. The non-voice signal, orthe one with the lower amplitude can be subtracted from the other,meaning the voice or audible command signal is now cleaner, with lessnoise.

According to aspects of the embodiment, the ASN can be part of a largercontrol system, such as control network 100. While the ASN can be partof control network 100, or the ASN can operate autonomously, referencefrom hereon in shall be made to only the ASN. As shown in FIG. 5,microphone 502 can incorporated into existing devices such as keypads500 and motion detectors, or can be stand-alone independent devices withcommunications capabilities such as IEEE 811.14 PAN transceiver 514.Accordingly, each device can have local voice recognition capabilities(i.e., through the use of a “mini” processor that is co-located with thestandalone microphone), of can be part of a centralized voicerecognition system wherein voice recognition processing occurs at aremote server (such as gateway 114 or controller 116) or a combinationof the two.

Attention is now directed towards FIG. 6, which illustrates thescientific principles upon which time-date stamping and amplitudedetermination are based. In FIG. 6, the source is shown as generating asound; in this case, a “light-off” command directed towards room 1. Thesound waves, as indicated, travel in the direction of arrow A, towardsfirst and second microphones 504 a 1 and 504 b 1 of keypad 106 a in room1, and third and fourth microphones 504 a 2 and 504 b 2 of keypad 106 bin room 2. The sound waves arrive at first and second microphones 504 a1,b1 of keypad 106 a in room 1 at times T_(1′) and T_(1″), respectively,with amplitudes of A_(1′) and A_(1″), respectively, wherein firstmicrophone 504 a 1 is a distance d_(1′) from the sound source, andsecond microphone 504 b 1 is a distance dr from the sound source.Similarly, the sound waves arrive at third and fourth microphones 504 a2,b2 of keypad 106 b in room 2 at times T_(2′) and T_(2″), respectively,with amplitudes of A_(2′) and A_(2″), respectively, wherein thirdmicrophone 504 a 2 is a distance d_(2′) from the sound source, andfourth microphone 504 b 2 is a distance d_(2″) from the sound source.The calculations for determining the time in view of the velocity ofsound are known to those of skill in the art, and therefore have beenomitted herein in fulfillment of the dual purposes of clarity andbrevity.

Accordingly, as the amplitude of the sound waves generally decreaseswith time and distance, the sound waves arriving at second microphone504 b 1 should be somewhat smaller in amplitude, and arrive at a latertime than those that arrive at first microphone 504 a 1. And, the soundwaves at third microphone 504 a 2 should be smaller and arrive at alater time than those of second microphone 504 b 1, and so on for thefourth, and other microphones, depending on their spatial location withrespect to the source of the sound. However, as those of skill in theart can appreciate, sometimes sound waves reflect off objects, causinglarger amplitudes at farther distances, or become attenuated for avariety of reasons that might be different from one location to theother, even if the locations within a setting are within relativelyshort distances (meters, or yards), depending on the construction of thehome or enterprise location. Thus, according to further aspects of theembodiments, amplitude or even time stamping might not be sufficientlydispositive in some cases in regard to the determination of which roomthe audible command is being directed towards, but in thosecircumstances they can be useful factors to take into account.

FIG. 7 illustrates a plan view of a floor of a house in which the systemand method for determining which controllable device an audible commandis directed to can be used according to aspects of the embodiments. Sucha setting as discussed above can be as realized in FIG. 7, wherein room1 is “Jordyn's Room” and room 2 is “Nolan's Room.” Someone has just leftroom 1, at position (1), carrying bags in each hand, and cannot hit thelight switch to turn off the lights on the way out. So, the person usesan audible command “Lights off,” as they pass position (2). However,both of microphone 504 a 1,b1 (Jordyn's room, room 1) in keypad 106 a,and both of microphones 504 a 2,b2 (Nolan's room, room 2) in keypad 106b, receive the audible command, and there can be confusion as to whichlights to turn off. There could be someone still in Nolan's room, and toturn off those lights could be dangerous, or at least inconvenient.Since the first pair of microphones 504 a 1,b1 received the commandearlier (through comparison of the time-date stamp), the controllabledevice associated with the first pair of microphones 504 a 1,b1 ofkeypad 106 a will be directed to respond to the audible command. Thisprocessing decision can also be made, or verified, by comparingamplitudes of the first and second digital signals—amplitude A₁ will begreater, albeit by a small amount, than amplitude A₂, and as suchwhichever processor processes the received digital signals, it willascertain that the command was directed to Jordyn's room, room 1,because the amplitude of the received signal is greater at Jordyn's roomthan at Nolan's room. According to aspects of the embodiments, the userwould prefer that the lights in Jordyn's room be turned off well beforethey get to position (3)—the bottom of the stairs.

According to further aspects of the embodiments, the ASN can furtherinclude proximity sensors as a further means for discerning the presenceor location of a user, which can assist in determining which room thecommand to the controllable device is directed towards. For example, inFIG. 7, there are shown a plurality of proximity sensors 702 a-d, oneeach for Jordyn's room, Nolan's room, Raegyn's room, and the bathroom,as well, as 702 e for the hallway. According to further aspects of theembodiments, proximity sensors can be the same or different as occupancysensors; that is, an occupancy sensor can be a passive detection device;motion, heat, among other types. Proximity sensors can be active—usingnear field communications (NFC), Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, or other low- ormedium-power communications protocols, that transmit signals to which adevice, such as PED 104, can respond to, thereby tracking movement andposition of the user, without the user's input. For example, in FIG. 7,the user, when at position (2), has left Jordyn's room and is now at thetop of the stairs. While each of proximity sensors 702 a-e can, mostlikely, detect the presence of the user, each will have a differentpower level received signal from PED 104 that the user is carrying withthem. Of course, as those of skill in the art can appreciate, this meansthat the user has to have loaded onto their PED 104 a configurationapplication that contains a portion of the program dedicated to theparticular low- or medium-power communications protocol being used bythe ASN. Thus, a central processor, such as central processor 116 orgateway 114 will receive data from each of proximity sensors 702 andwill be able to check the signal strength level from each of proximitysensors 702 a-e. The processor will therefore know that (a) the user hasjust left Jordyn's room, (b) is now headed down the stairs, and (c) thata command has just been issued by the user to turn off lights. A reviewof the light status of each of the rooms on that floor will determinethat the lights were left on in Jordyn's room, and a command can now begenerated and transmitted to turn them off.

While any one of the above proscribed processes can effectively turn offthe light in the room as intended by the audible command—speechrecognition algorithms, amplitude comparisons, time-date stampcomparisons, those of skill in the art can appreciate that additionalproblems can, from time to time, arise in the system and can potentiallybe the cause in erroneous operation. In some cases, any two of the threeprocesses can be combined, or all three can be used. In addition, asimmediately described below, additional processes can be implemented toconstruct an ASN that can operate substantially effectively,substantially all of the time.

As described above, according to aspects of the embodiments, one or moreprocessors can obtain received digital audible signals (e.g., DAS₁ andDAS₂), and can process each of DAS₁ and DAS₂ using speech recognitionalgorithms to determine the nature of the command, if any, contained inDAS₁ and DAS₂. If the command can be ascertained with a degree ofcertainty that meets or exceeds a predetermined degree of certainty(those of skill in the art can appreciate that currently availablespeech recognition algorithms can assign a value of certainty in regardto recognition of the speech of the received digital audio signals),then the controllable device to which the received digital audiblesignal is directed can be instructed to act on the command. Sometimes,however, such received digital audible signals are not recognizable bythe speech recognition algorithms. In these cases, additional processingcan be necessary to ascertain the device to which the received DAS isdirected. In this latter case, a time-date stamp can be applied to eachreceived DAS, and then those time-date stamps can be compared to make adetermination as to which DAS occurred first. The controllable deviceassociated with the microphone that received the first DAS can then bedirected to act on the command. In addition to comparing time-datestamps, the amplitude of the received DAS can also be compared; thecontrollable device associated with the microphone that received the DASwith the larger amplitude can be considered to be the one to which thecommand was directed. Amplitude comparisons, time-date stamp comparison,and speech recognition can be used independently of each other, or invarious combinations with each other. Other processes can also be used,as described below.

According to further aspects of the embodiments, to reduce falsepositives, the ASN can include speech recognition algorithm (SRA) thatrecognizes and distinguish audible commands from silence. The SRA canlearn, over time, the ambient noise levels of the room in which arespective microphone is located. According to an embodiment, theseambient levels become characterized as “silence” in the sense that theydo not convey useful command and control information, or can be actuallyvery low noise/sound level situations. According to further aspects ofthe embodiments, the SRA can then determine a state of silence (orabsence of a command), a state that a command has been issued, and thensilence again.

To reduce collocation errors, the SRA of the ASN recognizes zonecommands. For example, the SRA of the ASN can recognize commands such as“Master Bathroom Off” and “Guest Room On,” among others. In order toreduce errors in the acoustic sensory network, a user can speak suchcommands in a learning mode to that the SRA can learn to recognize thedifferent vocal traits of the user or users. According to furtheraspects of the embodiments, any number of users can input “practice”commands that can then be learned by the SRA. However, as those of skillin the art can appreciate, the SRA and acoustic sensory network is notnecessarily limited to such “learned” commands, nor does it even requiresuch learned commands in order to recognize zone commands. However, byknowing the different zones beforehand, the SRA and acoustic sensornetwork can increase its efficiency in recognizing and responding toreceived DASs.

According to still further aspects of the embodiments, to reduce falsepositives and collocation problems, occupancy indicators can be utilizedto determine location and deduce likely commands. For example, once anoccupancy sensor determines occupancy in a room and automaticallytriggers the lights to turn on, the acoustic sensor network can thendeduce that an “Off” command is likely to follow in that room.Similarly, other types of occupancy indicators can be combined, such asAV equipment operation, among others. Further, if a command is receivedby two or more co-located microphones, the occupancy sensors of each ofthe rooms can be checked, and if one still indicates an occupied roomwith the lights on, then it is likely the “Off” command was not directedtowards it. However, additional processing can be implemented that takesinto account time of day, day of the week, additional commands receivedwithin specified periods of time (e.g., correcting commands; a first“Off” command followed by a second “Off” command seconds later), amongother processes.

According to further aspects of the embodiments, additional processingsteps can be used to implement additional features. For example, toreduce privacy concerns, the ASN, at start-up, can temporarily employ aremote server to learn the operating environment of the keypad. Once anoise signature of the environment is deduced, the device may use alocal processor to filter out background noise and recognize commands.

According to further aspects of the embodiments, the ASN, which is partof control network 100 (or which can be a stand-alone network), canreduce background noise to make determination of commands via SRAs moreeffective. In order to reduce background noise, the ASN can request thatcertain noise producing devices be turned off in an area where a commandis likely to be heard. For example, after detecting lack of occupancy ina bedroom, the ASN can reduce the volume of any audio/video devices thatmay still be operating, and also reduce heating or air conditioning tothe room; this can lower the ambient background noise, and makedetection and determination of any commands easier.

According to further aspects of the embodiments, the ASN can reduce oreliminate collocation problems. As described above, collation problemsare those that related to two or more microphone devices 504 that arerelatively close to one another on two separate keypads 106 fordifferent rooms; see, e.g., keypads 106 a, 106 b, in FIG. 7 for Jordynand Nolan's room. One manner of reducing or substantially eliminatingcollocation issues, especially in systems that do not utilize zonecommands, is to check for occupancy in different rooms/areas. Afterdetecting occupancy in an area or room, the ASN can then disablemicrophones 504 known to be in adjacent zones (areas/rooms). Accordingto further aspects of the embodiments the ASN can also use occupancysensor data that shows no-occupancy as a means for reducing orsubstantially eliminating collocation issues. In this latter case,occupancy sensors from all adjoining rooms are checked against eachother; if a room fails to show occupancy, then commands for that roomthat room would turn off lights are ignored. As those of skill in theart can appreciate, there are numerous variations on how to useoccupancy sensor data by the ASN in processing commands to controlcontrollable devices such as lights.

According to still further aspects of the embodiments, the SRA of theASN can recognize characteristic sounds and deduce likely commands to bereceived in the vicinity. For example, a flushed toilet and runningwater are likely indicators that a bathroom microphone will receive a“lights off” command. A further example can be a garage door closing,among others.

According to still further aspects of the embodiments, the ASN can usevoice or speech recognition to identify speakers, learn preferences, andset defaults accordingly. For example, the SAR algorithm of the ASN canrecognize that certain individual users prefer certain temperature,humidity, AV, shade, and/or light settings, and set devices at thosesettings when detecting the user is present. When multiple users arepresent, the ASN can determine an optimal setting by taking into accounteach user's preference. According to still further aspects of theembodiments, when multiple users are present, the ASN can determine anoptimum setting by taking into account each user's preference.

Attention is now directed towards FIG. 8 that illustrates a flow chartof method 800 for determining which controllable device out of aplurality of controllable devices an audible command is directed towardsaccording to aspects of the embodiments.

As described herein, an encoding process is discussed in reference toFIG. 8 and method 800. The encoding process is not meant to limit theaspects of the embodiments, or to suggest that the aspects of theembodiments should be implemented following the encoding process. Thepurpose of the following encoding process is to facilitate theunderstanding of one or more aspects of the embodiments and to providethe reader with one or many possible implementations of the processeddiscussed herein. FIG. 8 illustrates a flowchart of various stepsperformed during the encoding process. The steps of FIG. 8 are notintended to completely describe the encoding process but only toillustrate some of the aspects discussed above. The encoding process canbe further embodied in one or more programs that reside in one or morememory locations of one or more devices, such as, for example, VR SoCcircuit 520, controller 116 and gateway 114, among other devices.However, in fulfillment of the dual purposes of clarity and brevity,discussion shall be made of method 800 as embodied in audible commandprocessing and determination (ACPD) program 222 (shown in FIG. 2) thatresides in memory 206 and can include one or more of AEC, DOA, and DABFprocessing, as well as SRAs.

Method 800 begins with optional method step 802. Each of the operationsof method steps 802-810 has been described in greater detail above inregard to FIGS. 1-7; therefore, in fulfillment of the dual purposes ofclarity and brevity, a detailed discussion of the same operations andsystem devices has been omitted from the discussion below of FIG. 8 andmethod 800. In method step 802, the ASN can be used to learn a user'sspeech characteristics in the manner as described above. In addition,method 800 can also acquire information regarding the zones or rooms ofa building, office, home, or enterprise location. The latter informationcan be used to assist in determining which zone or room an audiblecommand is directed towards as described in greater detail below. Method800 can use the zone/room information to determine the intended “target”of the command by matching control devices to the rooms and zones, andverifying the presence and operational status of the proximity andoccupancy sensors, and their locations with regard to each of the roomsand zones.

In method step 804, method 800 receives audio information in the form ofan analog signal at one or more microphones 504 at one or more keypads106 according to aspects of the embodiments. As described in greaterdetail above, the analog signals are digitized, time and date stamped,can be further processed to substantially eliminate or reduce noise(using AEC, DOA, DABF), and prepared for further processing. The audiosignal is now in the form of digital data, or packets, and can berepresented as AF_(n)(t), where n ranges from 1 to the total number ofkeypads 106 that report an audible signal. In decision step 806 ofmethod 800, each of the received plurality digitized audio signalsAF_(n)(t) is analyzed by a speech recognition algorithm (SRA) in ACPDprogram 222 in order to determine which keypad 106 and controllabledevices the audio command signal is directed towards. According to onenon-limiting aspect of the embodiments, for example, method 800 (andcertain modules of ACPD program 222) can be directed to the control oflighting devise; therefore, each command is therefore understandable inthe sense that is directed to turning lights on or off, or up or down inintensity, but the question is generally which room or zone is thecommand directed towards? As those of skill in the art can appreciate,however, the example of method 800 is not limited to lighting devicesonly, but can be used in controlling a plurality of different devices ashas been described herein. With modifications that have been describedherein method 800 can be used to control audio-video, HVAC, shading,security, and many other types of devices and/or systems, alone or incombination with each other. These can be embodied in one larger versionof ACPD program 222, or can be embodied in multiple modules of ACPDprogram 222 as the case may be.

If the output of the SRA is of a certainty that exceeds a predeterminedthreshold of certainty, then method 800 can direct the command to theappropriate device (“Yes” step from decision step 806). If the output ofthe SRA is such that the controllable device of the audio signal cannotbe discerned (“No” path from decision step 806), then method 800proceeds to decision step 808. In decision step 808, method 800 comparesthe date-time stamp and magnitude of each of the received AF_(n)(t)signals, presuming there is more than one (if there is only one, thenmethod 800 applies the command to the controllable device to which thecontrol device received the audible signal AF_(n)(t)). According toaspects of the embodiments, the magnitude of the earliest signal shouldbe greater than the magnitude of later arriving signals. Thus, by way ofexample, if there are two audible signals, AF₁(t₁) and AF₂(t₂), t₁should be less than t₂, and the magnitude of AF₁(t₁) should be greaterthan the magnitude of AF₂(t₂). If this is the case (“Yes” path fromdecision step 808), method 800 proceeds to step 807 and applies thecommand to the controllable devices associated with the first keypad106. The controllable devices of the control device that reports theearliest time-date stamp and greatest magnitude of AF_(n)(t) are thecontrollable devices to which the command contained in the receivedAF_(n)(t) signal will be directed towards. In this manner, method 800takes into account the fact that the speed of sound in a home or officeof enterprise location is essentially and substantially constant, andthus the control device that reports the earliest or greatest magnitudeaudible signal is the one that the command is directed to. If theseequalities do not hold true (“No” path from decision step 808), thenmethod 800 and ACPD program 222 are directed to decision step 810 forfurther processing and determinations according to aspects of theembodiments.

As those of skill in the art can no doubt now appreciate in view of thediscussion above, there are situations and cases where the proscribedprocess steps 802-808 of method 800 might not be enough to discern whichcontrollable device to direct the command to. Thus, in method step 810,additional parameters/processing/factors can be taken intoconsideration. As each of these has been described in greater detailabove, they will be only briefly discussed again at this point infulfillment of the dual purposes of clarity and brevity.

In method decision step 810, additional processing can be performed todetermine which room or zone or controllable device the received audiblesignal is directed towards. One, some, or all of the followingprocessing steps/parameters can be taken into account and/or performed,in any particular order, or none can and decision step 800 can terminatewith step 808, as described above.

According to still further aspects of the embodiments, a further stepthat can be taken in decision step 810 alone or in conjunction with oneor more of the other processing steps can be to make use of proximitysensors to determine which controllable device the audible signal(command) is directed to. That is, the system and method according toaspects of the embodiments, can use the knowledge of the presence, oflack of presence of a user as determined by one or more proximitysensors can be used to determine which controllable device the commandis directed to. This can be accomplished through the use of low/mediumpower communications protocols such as Bluetooth, NFC, Wi-Fi, amongothers. According to aspects of the embodiments, a transmitted signalinterrogates an electronic device such as PED 104; appropriate softwarelocated therein received such a transmission, and responds in kind tothe proximity sensor. A plurality of proximity sensors can send suchlocation interrogation transmissions. Upon processing all of theresponses from each proximity sensor, and determination can be made asto location based on the strength and/or time stamp of the signaltransmitted by PED 104 and received by each of the proximity sensors.

According to still further aspects of the embodiments, a further stepthat can be taken in method step 810 alone or in conjunction with one ormore of the other processing steps can be to make use of backgroundand/or ambient noise in a passive measure. That is, the system andmethod according to aspects of the embodiments can use microphones 504to periodically measure the background of ambient noise levels from timeto time and one or more processors, wherever located, can store suchreadings. These noise levels can then be subtracted from future readingsin order to facilitate the presence of commands. As those of skill inthe art can appreciate, while such a determination may not in and ofitself tell method 800 which controllable device the command is directedto, it can assist in helping to determine when a command has beenissued, and in conjunction with other processing steps and/or parameterdeterminations can be used to determine the nature of the command (e.g.,which controllable device in which zone/room the command is directedtowards).

According to still further aspects of the embodiments, a further stepthat can be taken in method step 810 alone or in conjunction with one ormore of the other processing steps can be to make active use of theoccupancy sensor data. That is, the system and method according toaspects of the embodiments can determine the presence or not of a personor persons in a room, and further determine when such person or personsleave the room. Then it can be expected that any ensuing command couldbe directed towards that room or zone that was just vacated.

According to still further aspects of the embodiments, a further stepthat can be taken in method step 810 alone or in conjunction with one ormore of the other processing steps can be to make active use of theoutput of the occupancy and proximity sensors. That is, the system andmethod according to aspects of the embodiments can turn off or reduce involume any “noise” producing devices when occupancy and/or proximitysensors suggest that a room or zone is unoccupied. By reducing theambient noise level—in this case, noise referring to any audible soundthat is not a command (e.g., music, video audio)—the commands, or anycommands that might be issued, will become easier to discern, andrespond to.

According to still further aspects of the embodiments, a further stepthat can be taken in method step 810, alone or in conjunction with oneor more of the other processing steps, can be to make active use of theoutput of the occupancy and proximity sensors in another, differentmanner than that just described. That is, the system and methodaccording to aspects of the embodiments can turn off or disable one ormore microphones 504 in one or more rooms or zones when occupancy and/orproximity sensors suggest that a room or zone is unoccupied. Byeliminating one or more outputs from microphones 504 in which a commandis not expected, the system and method according to aspects of theembodiments will be able to detect with greater accuracy thecontrollable device that the command is being directed towards.

According to still further aspects of the embodiments, a further stepthat can be taken in method step 810 alone or in conjunction with one ormore of the other processing steps can be to make active use ofbackground and/or ambient noises; that is, when certain background orambient noises occur, the system and method according to aspects of theembodiments can predict future operations based on those noises. Suchpredictive behavior can be learned over time. By way of non-limitingexamples, when a user closes a garage door, for example, a command toturn off the lights in the garage can be expected. Similarly, when atoilet flushes, or running water is turned off in the bathroom sink, thecommand to turn off the lights in the bathroom can be expected.

Once one, some, or all of the above additional processing forascertaining the correct room to which the received audible command isdirected towards are performed, method 800 (ACPD program 222) candetermine whether, within a certain predefined degree of certainty as towhich room the command is directed. If method 800 can make thedetermination (“Yes” path from decision step 810), method 800 proceedsto method step 807 wherein the command is applied to the specifiedcontrollable device of the specified room or controlled zone. If,however, after all of the processing of method 800 as embodied as ACPDprogram 222, a determination still cannot be made, then no response isprovided, and the command is ignored. The user or users can be informedof this by some type of audible, visual, or haptic feedback, or anycombination thereof (including all of the feedback methods).

FIG. 9 illustrates processing and memory components/circuitry of one ormore of the personal electronic device 104 of FIG. 4, gateway device 114of FIG. 3, controller 116 of FIG. 2, and any other devices that uses oneor more processors as described herein that uses software and/orapplications to perform various functions and actions as describedherein according to aspects of the embodiments.

FIG. 9 illustrates processing and memory components/circuitry (generallyreferred to as a “computer” or personal computer (PC)) of one or more ofthe personal electronic device 104 of FIG. 4, gateway device 114 of FIG.3, controller 116 of FIG. 2, and any other devices that uses one or moreprocessors as described herein that uses or runs or implements softwareand/or applications, such as the configuration application, projectfiles, or control applications, to perform various functions and actionsas described herein according to aspects of the embodiments, suitablefor use to implement method 800 for determining which controllabledevice an audible command is directed towards according to anembodiment.

PC 900 comprises, among other items, integrated display/touch-screen 902(though not used in every application of PC 900), internal data/commandbus (bus) 904, processor board/PC internal memory (internal memory) 932,and one or more processors 908 with processor internal memory 906 (whichcan be typically read only memory (ROM) and/or RAM). Those of ordinaryskill in the art can appreciate that in modern PC systems, parallelprocessing is becoming increasingly prevalent, and whereas a singleprocessor would have been used in the past to implement many or at leastseveral functions, it is more common currently to have a singlededicated processor for certain functions (e.g., digital signalprocessors) and therefore could be several processors, acting in serialand/or parallel, as required by the specific application. PC 900 furthercomprises multiple input/output ports, such as universal serial busports 910, Ethernet ports 911, and video graphics array (VGA) ports/highdefinition multimedia interface (HDMI) ports 922, among other types.Further, PC 900 includes externally accessible drives such as compactdisk (CD)/digital video disk (DVD) read/write (RW) (CD/DVD/RW) drive912, and floppy diskette drive 914 (though less used currently, many PCsstill include this device).

Internal memory 932 itself can comprise hard disk drive (HDD) 916 (thesecan include conventional magnetic storage media, but, as is becomingincreasingly more prevalent, can include flash drive memory 934, amongother types), read-only memory (ROM) 918 (these can include electricallyerasable (EE) programmable ROM (EEPROMs), ultra-violet erasable PROMs(UVPROMs), among other types), and RAM 920. Usable with USB port 910 isflash drive memory 934, and usable with CD/DVD/RW drive 912 are CD/DVDdisks 936 (which can be both read and write-able). Usable with floppydiskette drive 914 are floppy diskettes 938. External memory storage 924can be used to store data and programs external to box 901 of PC 900,and can itself comprise another hard disk drive 916 a, flash drivememory 934, among other types of memory storage. External memory storage924 is connectable to PC 900 via USB cable 956. Each of the memorystorage devices, or the memory storage media (906, 916, 918, 920, 924,934, 936, and 938, among others), can contain parts or components, or inits entirety, executable software programming code or application(application, or “App”), such as ACPD program 222, which can implementpart or all of the portions of method 800 described herein.

Bus 904 provides a data/command pathway for items such as: the transferand storage of data/commands between processor 908, integrated display902, USB port 910, Ethernet port 911, VGA/HDMI port 922, CD/DVD/RW drive912, floppy diskette drive 914, and internal memory 932. Through bus904, data can be accessed that is stored in internal memory 932.Processor 908 can send information for visual display to either or bothof integrated and external displays, and the user can send commands tosystem operating programs/software/Apps 940 that might reside inprocessor internal memory 906 of processor 908, or any of the othermemory devices (936, 938, 916, 918, and 920).

PC 900, and either processor internal memory 906 or internal memory 932,can be used to implement method 800 for determining which controllabledevice an audible command is directed towards according to anembodiment. Hardware, firmware, software or a combination thereof can beused to perform the various steps and operations described herein.According to an embodiment, App 940 for carrying out the above discussedsteps can be stored and distributed on multi-media storage devices suchas devices 916, 918, 920, 934, 936 and/or 938 (described above) or otherform of media capable of portably storing information. Storage media934, 936 and/or 938 can be inserted into, and read by devices such asUSB port 910, CD/DVD/RW drive 912, and disk drives 914, respectively.

As also will be appreciated by one skilled in the art, the variousfunctional aspects of the embodiments may be embodied in a wirelesscommunication device, a telecommunication network, or as a method or ina computer program product. Accordingly, the embodiments may take theform of an entirely hardware embodiment or an embodiment combininghardware and software aspects. Further, the embodiments may take theform of a computer program product stored on a computer-readable storagemedium having computer-readable instructions embodied in the medium. Anysuitable computer-readable medium may be utilized, including hard disks,CD-ROMs, digital versatile discs (DVDs), optical storage devices, ormagnetic storage devices such a floppy disk or magnetic tape. Othernon-limiting examples of computer-readable media include flash-typememories or other known types of memories.

Further, those of ordinary skill in the art in the field of theembodiments can appreciate that such functionality can be designed intovarious types of circuitry, including, but not limited to fieldprogrammable gate array structures (FPGAs), application specificintegrated circuitry (ASICs), microprocessor based systems, among othertypes. A detailed discussion of the various types of physical circuitimplementations does not substantively aid in an understanding of theembodiments, and as such has been omitted for the dual purposes ofbrevity and clarity. However, as well known to those of ordinary skillin the art, the systems and methods discussed herein can be implementedas discussed, and can further include programmable devices.

Such programmable devices and/or other types of circuitry as previouslydiscussed can include a processing unit, a system memory, and a systembus that couples various system components including the system memoryto the processing unit. The system bus can be any of several types ofbus structures including a memory bus or memory controller, a peripheralbus, and a local bus using any of a variety of bus architectures.Furthermore, various types of computer readable media can be used tostore programmable instructions. Computer readable media can be anyavailable media that can be accessed by the processing unit. By way ofexample, and not limitation, computer readable media can comprisecomputer storage media and communication media. Computer storage mediaincludes volatile and nonvolatile as well as removable and non-removablemedia implemented in any method or technology for storage of informationsuch as computer readable instructions, data structures, program modulesor other data. Computer storage media includes, but is not limited to,RAM, ROM, EEPROM, flash memory or other memory technology, CDROM,digital versatile disks (DVD) or other optical disk storage, magneticcassettes, magnetic tape, magnetic disk storage or other magneticstorage devices, or any other medium which can be used to store thedesired information and which can be accessed by the processing unit.Communication media can embody computer readable instructions, datastructures, program modules or other data in a modulated data signalsuch as a carrier wave or other transport mechanism and can include anysuitable information delivery media.

The system memory can include computer storage media in the form ofvolatile and/or nonvolatile memory such as ROM and/or RAM. A basicinput/output system (BIOS), containing the basic routines that help totransfer information between elements connected to and between theprocessor, such as during start-up, can be stored in memory. The memorycan also contain data and/or program modules that are immediatelyaccessible to and/or presently being operated on by the processing unit.By way of non-limiting example, the memory can also include an operatingsystem, application programs, other program modules, and program data.

The processor can also include other removable/non-removable andvolatile/nonvolatile computer storage media. For example, the processorcan access a hard disk drive that reads-from or writes-to non-removable,nonvolatile magnetic media, a magnetic disk drive that reads from orwrites to a removable, nonvolatile magnetic disk, and/or an optical diskdrive that reads from or writes to a removable, nonvolatile opticaldisk, such as a CD-ROM or other optical media. Otherremovable/non-removable, volatile/nonvolatile computer storage mediathat can be used in the operating environment include, but are notlimited to, magnetic tape cassettes, flash memory cards, digitalversatile disks, digital video tape, solid state RAM, solid state ROMand the like. A hard disk drive can be connected to the system busthrough a non-removable memory interface such as an interface, and amagnetic disk drive or optical disk drive can be connected to the systembus by a removable memory interface, such as an interface.

The embodiments discussed herein can also be embodied ascomputer-readable codes on a computer-readable medium. Thecomputer-readable medium can include a computer-readable recordingmedium and a computer-readable transmission medium. Thecomputer-readable recording medium is any data storage device that canstore data which can be thereafter read by a computer system. Examplesof the computer-readable recording medium include ROM, RAM, CD-ROMs andgenerally optical data storage devices, magnetic tapes, flash drives,and floppy disks. The computer-readable recording medium can also bedistributed over network coupled computer systems so that thecomputer-readable code is stored and executed in a distributed fashion.The computer-readable transmission medium can transmit carrier waves orsignals (e.g., wired or wireless data transmission through theInternet). Also, functional programs, codes, and code segments to, whenimplemented in suitable electronic hardware, accomplish or supportexercising certain elements of the appended claims can be readilyconstrued by programmers skilled in the art to which the embodimentspertain.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY

To solve the aforementioned problems, the aspects of the embodiments aredirected towards systems, methods, and modes for controllingcontrollable devices in the control network based on audio commandsalone, according to an aspect of the embodiments, and in further aspectsof the embodiments, controlling the controllable devices of the controlnetwork based on audio commands and other sensory information.

The disclosed embodiments provide a system, software, and a method fordetermining which of one or more controllable devices an audible commandis directed towards using one or more of speech recognition, time-datestamping, amplitude analysis, and other techniques, as described herein.It should be understood that this description is not intended to limitthe embodiments. On the contrary, the embodiments are intended to coveralternatives, modifications, and equivalents, which are included in thespirit and scope of the embodiments as defined by the appended claims.Further, in the detailed description of the embodiments, numerousspecific details are set forth to provide a comprehensive understandingof the claimed embodiments. However, one skilled in the art wouldunderstand that various embodiments may be practiced without suchspecific details.

Although the features and elements of aspects of the embodiments aredescribed being in particular combinations, each feature or element canbe used alone, without the other features and elements of theembodiments, or in various combinations with or without other featuresand elements disclosed herein.

This written description uses examples of the subject matter disclosedto enable any person skilled in the art to practice the same, includingmaking and using any devices or systems and performing any incorporatedmethods. The patentable scope of the subject matter is defined by theclaims, and may include other examples that occur to those skilled inthe art. Such other examples are intended to be within the scope of theclaims.

The above-described embodiments are intended to be illustrative in allrespects, rather than restrictive, of the embodiments. Thus theembodiments are capable of many variations in detailed implementationthat can be derived from the description contained herein by a personskilled in the art. No element, act, or instruction used in thedescription of the present application should be construed as criticalor essential to the embodiments unless explicitly described as such.Also, as used herein, the article “a” is intended to include one or moreitems.

All United States patents and applications, foreign patents, andpublications discussed above are hereby incorporated herein by referencein their entireties.

Alternate Embodiments

Alternate embodiments may be devised without departing from the spiritor the scope of the different aspects of the embodiments.

What is claimed is:
 1. An acoustic sensor network comprising: four ormore controllable devices, at least two of which are located in a firstroom and at least two of which are located in a second room; two or morecontrolling devices, each of the two or more controlling devicescomprising at least one respective microphone, and an analog to digitalconverter, a first controlling device being located in the first room,and a second controlling device being located in the second room, andwherein the first controlling device located in the first room isadapted to control the at least two controllable devices located in thefirst room, and the second controlling device located in the second roomis adapted to control the at least two controllable devices located inthe second room, and further wherein each of the first and secondcontrolling devices are further adapted to receive an audible commandthrough the at least one respective microphone, the received audiblecommand being directed to control one of the two or more controllabledevices controlled by the respective controlling device, and whereineach of the analog-to-digital converters are adapted to digitize thereceived audible command; a first occupancy sensor located in the firstroom; a second occupancy sensor located in the second room; and acentral controller adapted to receive the digitized audible command andperform speech recognition to determine which type of controllabledevice the digitized audible command is directed towards, and whereinthe central controller is further adapted to receive an output from eachof the first and second occupancy sensors, wherein the output reports anoccupied state of the respective room, and further wherein the centralcontroller is adapted to determine that an occupancy sensor readingassociated with a respective controlling device, within a predefinedperiod of time before the audible command was received, indicates arecently occupied room, and apply the audible command to thecontrollable device in the room that was recently occupied.
 2. Theacoustic sensor network according to claim 1, wherein each of the two ormore controlling devices are further adapted to attach a uniqueidentifier to each of the digitized audible commands so as to uniquelycorrelate it to a respective controlling device and transmit the same,and wherein the central controller is further adapted to receive each ofthe transmitted digitized audible commands, determine a magnitude ofeach of the digitized audible commands, determine a digitized audiblecommand with the greatest magnitude, and further determine to whichcontrolling device the audible command is directed to on the basis ofthe unique identifier associated with the digitized audible command withthe greatest magnitude.
 3. The acoustic sensor network according toclaim 2, wherein the central controller is further adapted to forwardthe digitized audible command with the greatest magnitude to thecontrolling device on the basis of the unique identifier, and whereinthe controlling device is further adapted to forward the digitizedaudible command to the controllable device.
 4. The acoustic sensornetwork according to claim 2, wherein each of the controlling devicesare further adapted to attach a time-date stamp to the digitized audiblecommands, and wherein the central controller is further adapted toverify that the time-date stamp of the digitized audible command withthe greatest magnitude is the same or earlier than the time-date stampof any other digitized received audible command signal.
 5. The acousticsensor network according to claim 4, wherein the central controller isfurther adapted to apply additional processing to determine whichcontrolling device the received audible command is directed to if thetime-date stamp of the digitized audible command signal with thegreatest magnitude is later than the time-date stamp any other digitizedaudible command.
 6. The acoustic sensor network according to claim 5,wherein the central controller is further adapted to check one or moreof a proximity sensor reading and motion detector reading, each of whichis associated with respective controlling devices to determine whichcontrolling device the received audible command is directed towards. 7.The acoustic sensor network according to claim 6, wherein the centralcontroller is further adapted to determine that the proximity sensorreading associated with a respective controlling device matches thereceived audible command in order to determine that the received audiblecommand should be applied to the controllable device controlled by therespective controlling device.
 8. The acoustic sensor network accordingto claim 6, wherein the central controller is further adapted todetermine that the motion detector reading associated with a respectivecontrolling device matches the received audible command in order todetermine that the received audible command should be applied to thecontrollable device controlled by the respective controlling device. 9.The acoustic sensor network according to claim 2, wherein each of therespective controlling devices are further adapted to attach thetime-date stamp to the digitized audible command received at therespective controlling device through use of a time-date stamp generatorusing a time synch protocol.
 10. The acoustic sensor network accordingto claim 2, wherein the central controller is further adapted togenerate a test signal to determine a travel time from each of theplurality of controlling devices to the central controller, modify thetime-date stamp of each received digitized audible command signalaccording to the travel time from a respective controlling device to thecentral processor, and use the modified time-date stamp to assist indetermining to which controlling device the audible command signal isdirected to.
 11. The acoustic sensor network according to claim 1,wherein the controlling device further comprises: a time-date stampgenerator adapted to generate the time-date stamp; and at least twomicrophones, each of which digitizes the received audible command, andwherein, the controlling device is further adapted to average all of thetime-date stamps generated at the controlling device and attach theaveraged time-date stamps to each of the plurality of digitized audiblecommands prior to transmitting the same.
 12. The acoustic sensor networkaccording to claim 1, wherein the controlling device further comprises:a noise reduction processing circuit.
 13. The acoustic sensor networkaccording to claim 12, wherein the noise reduction processing circuit isadapted to filter the received audible command in an analog domain toattenuate a first bandwidth of noise energy.
 14. The acoustic sensornetwork according to claim 12, wherein the noise reduction processingcircuit is adapted to use one or more of acoustic echo cancellationfiltering, direction of arrival filtering, and directionally adaptivebeam forming filtering, to filter the digitized audible command in adigital domain to attenuate noise energy and to amplify audible commandenergy.
 15. The acoustic sensor network according to claim 14, whereinthe noise energy comprises: noise energy generated by one or more of afan motor, music, air conditioning noise, audio generated by multi-mediapresentations, and non-command words.
 16. The acoustic sensor networkaccording to claim 1, further comprising: at least one additionalspatially separated microphone, adapted to receive the audible command,and associated with one of the at least two controlling devices; ananalog to digital converter associated with the at least one spatiallyseparated microphone, and adapted to digitize the received audiblecommand; a time-date stamp generator adapted to add a time-date stamp tothe additional digitized audible command, and further adapted to add aunique identifier to the additional digitized audible command, theunique identifier corresponding to the associated one of the controllingdevices, and further wherein the central controller uses the at leastone additional digitized audible command to assist in determining towhich controlling device the audible command is directed to.
 17. Theacoustic sensor network according to claim 1, wherein the controllabledevices include one or more of a sensor, lighting control device, shadedevice, audio/video device, environmental control device, securitydevice, household appliance, control device, and industrial device. 18.The acoustic sensor network according to claim 1, wherein thecontrolling device comprises: a keypad.